A Pony and a Portal
by JenovaII
Summary: Twilight Sparkle discovers the key to a portal in Ponyville.  Where does it lead?  What will she and her friends find on the other side?
1. A Pony and a Portal

A Pony and a Portal

Twilight Sparkle was out documenting some of the wild flowers near her house when she spotted a small, white object lying in the tall grass.

For once, the unicorn had taken a break from studying magic and had decided instead to explore outside her backyard. After redesigning some of the library for an extension of her bedroom, she had unearthed a variety of gardening and flower identification books. Not one to leave a book unturned, she started researching and, like most things she researched, became instantly obsessed. All of the flowers outside of the library now had neat, pristine little signs telling what genus and species, how to care for them, and other minutia.

When all of the flowers at the library had been deciphered, Twilight started toward the outskirts of the Everfree Forest. After identifying some toadflax, three kinds of daisies, and more than ten types of clover (and all of them delicious), Twilight Sparkle came across an odd object lying within a clump of dianthus.

She lifted it with unicorn magic, and, upon seeing what it was, immediately dropped it back into the pinks with a shocked gasp like somepony who had found a severed leg. Unbelieving, she lifted it again. It was a large ivory fang tied to a loop of string. Her experience with magic led her to believe that this was a magical object. Her keen sense of the logical told her to put it back and walk away. She studied the tooth for another moment before pulling it towards her with her magic. Against her better judgment, she decided to research it a little more before discarding it.

Twilight didn't walk five steps before a brilliant purple light burst in front of her.

There was very little study in Equestria about the theory of portals. 'Theory' was and always had been the necessary term. Theoretically, if portals existed, they required a sort of 'key' to activate. Theoretically, they could transport one to a different dimension. Theoretically, they would not randomly appear in front of Princess Celestia's best student and ardent researcher. Yet here it was, a swirling vortex of black and violet. It made the sound of whipping wind, but no breeze was felt. It even had a scent, like fresh ink. Shocked again, Twilight dropped the fang. The portal closed in on itself with a whssssssh.

Twilight galloped off as fast as her hooves could carry her back towards the library.

"Now, Twilight," drawled the orange earth pony, her tone bordering on cynical, "what exactly are we lookin' at, here?"

She had assembled her friends, trusted comrades whom she knew could keep secrets. A portal would have been a huge to-do in Canterlot; in the more rural confines of Ponyville, there was no judging the reaction.

Applejack, the pony who had spoken, looked a little impatient, more than likely considering this scientific discovering a gigantic waste of her precious time. The pegasus Rainbow Dash rubbed at her ruby eyes sleepily, tired from a long day of doing nothing. Pinkie Pie sniffed at a clover but otherwise didn't appear to pay attention. Rarity, another unicorn, looked more annoyed at being pulled away from her work than excited by a new discovery. After all, dresses didn't design themselves. Fluttershy, her wings closed tightly against her sides, looked confused and a little anxious, knowing Twilight didn't get excited for no reason.

Twilight picked the fang necklace up in her mouth, eliciting sounds of disgust from her friends. She approached the proper place, and the portal spun into existence with a loud whoosh.

"Whoa!"

"-the hay is that?"

"Oh my!"

"This is a portal," Twilight said, putting on her matter-of-fact voice. "There's no telling where it leads or if it's dangerous. As my friends, I want to know what you think we ought to do with it."

"I ain't sure about this, Twi," Applejack said, frowning at the vortex. "Maybe we should tell somepony else about this 'n let them deal with it."

"No way! We should totally go in," spouted Rainbow Dash, hovering above the portal and looking at it from both sides. It was as thin as a sheet of parchment, nothing visible except the inward-thrusting black swirls. "I mean, how often are you gonna see somethin' like this?"

Twilight looked expectantly at the rest of the group, who mostly expressed disinterest. Pinkie Pie was trying in dizzying vain to follow one of the swishes of vortex with her eyes. Her head looped up and down, and soon she fell backwards, giggling to herself. Rarity mumbled something about 'garish,' and Fluttershy merely blinked nervously.

Twilight considered what her instincts were screaming at her. She thought for a long time about the dangers and possibilities. After a moment, she knew. The nagging voice saying that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance overruled any silly instinct - or perfectly logical reason - not to go into the portal.

"I'm with Dash. I think we should go in. I have a plan..."

A few minutes later, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack were saddled up and prepared to step in. Twilight had very little trouble convincing Applejack to change her mind; merely mentioning that the task would be impossible without her was enough to get her packing her saddlebags.

Twilight had brought a book containing all the recent theories on portals and was leafing through it. Applejack once again secured her bags. Rainbow Dash circled the air with an impatient glee, waiting for the portal to reopen.

"We'll be gone for two hours," Twilight announced, snapping the book shut and putting it into her bag. "After that time, I want you guys to tie a line to Fluttershy and let her in. She should be able to get back if she's tethered. Theoretically."

"Wh-why do I have to -" Fluttershy stammered.

"Just in case the portal opens somewhere in the sky, you can be safe. Just call for us; we'll stay around the place we appear. Theoretically, it should be the same area. If _we_ run into any trouble, Rainbow Dash can fly. I can lift Applejack and myself up with my magic. The three of us will make a safer entrance than six of us. Theoretically."

"Will ya'll quit sayin' 'theoretically'?" Applejack said. She tried to look brave, but her hooves were shaking in their shoes.

"This should be fairly safe. Theor-" Twilight stopped, noticing Applejack glaring daggers. "Er, I mean, it's pretty safe."

"Let's go already!" said Dash, fluttering her wings so excitedly that a few feathers popped out.

Twilight lifted the fang necklace up, forcing the portal into existence. It opened with a loud noise, like the grating of two pieces of rusted metal. Black, cloudy swoops poured out of it, like a drain in reverse. Twilight watched it for a moment, a last chance for her logical mind to take over, to stop this foalishness, return home, and send a letter posthaste to the princess to report her findings. To her mild surprise, there was no such inclination. It was too tempting to find out what lie beyond. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and stepped into the swirling vortex. There was a loud noise around her, like the banging of tree limbs on the roof on a stormy night. She felt Applejack pressed against her flank and was obscurely aware that Rainbow Dash was hovering above them. Just as suddenly, the noise stopped, replaced with the distant sounds of birds and a running river. She felt grass under her hooves. Twilight dared to open her eyes...


	2. A Pony and a Paradise

A Pony and a Paradise

"I think everything's okay," Twilight said hesitantly, checking herself and the others. Four hooves, two ears. Mane. Tail. A horn for her; wings for Dash. Her worries had been for nothing. Not even Applejack's cowboy hat was a hair out of place. Applejack sniffed around while Rainbow Dash rose a few feet in the air to survey.

They were in a wide field, littered with trees and patches of forest. Fresh green grass, still wet with dew, sprung up about them. Beautiful wildflowers, species with which Twilight was unfamiliar, bloomed across the field. A small creek ran across gently sloping hills. It tinkled like chimes as it ran its course, distant though audible in the calm silence. Across the hills, a far way off, they saw a waterfall pouring from a cliff. Birds called to each other from the trees, and every so often a buzzing insect flew past. Other than that, there was no sign of life.

"See anything unusual?" Twilight asked the aerial expert.

"There's somepony over there," Dash called, pointing a hoof towards a small patch of trees.

"Are they ponies?" Twilight asked, fully aware that this realm may hold other creatures.

Dash scoffed. "I said some_pony_, didn't I?"

"Let's be careful," Twilight advised. "We should probably try to avoid them. We don't know if they're hostile. We don't even know if they speak the same language as we do. Plus, we shouldn't wander too far. When Fluttershy-"

"They're coming," said Dash casually, floating down and hovering just above the ground.

"They what now?" Twilight panicked. Their invasion of this new dimension was to be hopefully discreet. But they had been discovered, and now Twilight had to act diplomatic.

A pink flash overhead told Twilight that being discovered had probably been unavoidable. The pink flash slowed, revealing a pegasus. Easily the fattest pony Twilight had ever seen, she landed near them and smiled in a friendly fashion. She had blue hair and a cutie mark consisting of two blue lightning bolts. Behind her, several more ponies showed up; Twilight counted six in total.

"Hiya there!" the pegasus greeted, and Twilight was secretly relieved that the language was the same. "I'm Firefly, the best flyer in all of Paradise Estates, and if you want me to prove it, I'll race ya!"

Dash scoffed and muttered something vaguely offensive, noting the pony's lumpy physique.

"Firefly," came a scolding voice from behind, "please refrain from disconcerting the sojourners."

"Sorry," Firefly said. Then added, in a confused voice, "What?"

"She says stop embarrassing them," said an additional voice. The ponies came into view. They all seemed as chubby – if not more so – than Firefly. The one who had spoken before was a blue pegasus with pink hair. Her flank was adorned with whistles. She had a serious countenance but still looked approachable. The one who had answered Firefly was a white pegasus, blonde-haired, with a mark of several palm trees. With them came a white unicorn, aqua-haired with a red streak. Her mark was a few maple leaves. Behind her was a blue earth pony with pastel hair and a mark that seemed to be cupcakes. Twilight couldn't tell from a distance, but something appeared to be wrong with this pony's eyes. Another earth pony, this one orange with a blonde mane, stood in the back of the group.

"Apologies," offered the blue pegasus. "Allow me to introduce myself and my compatriots. I am Wind Whistler. You've met Firefly. This is Paradise." She motioned to the white pegasus. "Gusty." The white unicorn with the leaves. "Sweet Stuff." The odd-eyed blue earth pony. "And Applejack."

The orange earth pony bowed, and Twilight tried to hide her surprise. Behind her, Applejack erupted in a coughing fit, and Dash had to pound on her back to get her to stop.

"Uh," drawled Twilight, suddenly aware that she was making a bad impression, "Give me just a second. Um, please."

Wind Whistler gave her a confused look, but before anypony could react, Twilight pulled Dash and Applejack aside.

"Okay, new theory. My book talks about duplicate dimensions, where everything is basically the same as home, but a little bit different. This might be one of them. That means if anypony meets the alternate version of themselves, there could be some cataclysmic disaster. The universe itself could be undone! So, rules: we need fake names, just in case. Also, let's try to set down some kind of prime directive. Mainly, just stay out of everypony's way."

"A'course," snorted Applejack. "I mean, it's jus' neighborly t' mind yer own business."

"Just let me handle this," Twilight sighed. She turned back to the fat ponies. "Sorry about that. I'm Twilight...uh...Twinkle. This is Rainbow..."

She looked at Rainbow, the word 'crash' on her lips. Something about Dash's face told her she'd better choose a 'cool' name.

"Rainbow _Flash_," she finally decided. Dash nodded approvingly. "And Appleja – er..." Twilight's mind froze.

"Apple...uh...Bloom," corrected Applejack, saying the first apple-related name she could conjure.

The fat ponies seemed satisfied, though confused at their new friends' awkward behavior.

"You should come back with us," Sweet Stuff, the blue earth pony, offered. "We are planning a huge feast tonight in honor of our new home. We'd love to have you." She checked herself suddenly. "W-well, I mean, you should come as guests. I don't mean _have you_ have you, like we're gonna eat you or-"

"I think they get it." Wind Whistler cut her off curtly. Sweet Stuff murmured an apology and slunk to the back of the group. The blue pegasus rolled her eyes before continuing. "You can come if you wish. It is always gratifying to meet new acquaintances."

There was a pause, as if silently demanding an immediate answer.

"We were waiting for our friend..." Twilight trailed off, unsure of what to say. If the two hours passed and Fluttershy came through the portal, they would not be there to meet her. Naturally, Twilight wasn't sure what Fluttershy would do in such an occurrence. She wished these other ponies had not come; that way her burning scientific curiosity would be satiated merely by wandering around. Now, five seconds after meeting these weird ponies, they were being invited to dinner. Mild flashbacks of her first day in Ponyville came to her. Knowing herself to be socially awkward, she almost wished Pinkie Pie were here instead. Almost.

_Pinkie would have said yes with no hesitation,_ Twilight told herself. _And we can try to be back in time, so Fluttershy won't panic. It won't hurt to explore just a little._

"Sure, we'll go with ya," Applejack suddenly interjected. To match Twilight's shock, Applejack gave her a look. As if channeling Applejack's thoughts, Twilight interpreted: "Ya took too long answerin', sugarcube. Ain't polite t'keep 'em waitin'."

The fat ponies turned and started though the woods. Paradise, the white pegasus, waited for Twilight and the others to catch up.

"You're not like any pony I've seen here," she said, eying Twilight up and down. "Are you from another place?"

"Far away," Twilight replied, already formulating some sort of lie. "A transportation spell gone wrong."

"How fascinating," the pegasus replied. Her voice was smooth and patient, the well-worn voice of a storyteller. "We're newcomers, too, of a sort. We have just recently moved to this part of the land. Paradise Estates was created for us by the Moochick. He's a magician."

Twilight nodded solemnly. "Why did you have to move?"

"We once lived in a castle in Dream Valley. About six months ago, a black goo started to appear. Anypony it touched instantly became grouchy and irritable, and soon the ponies with the goo on them had no interest in life at all." At this point, she leaned closer to Twilight. A taller pony, she had to bend her neck down to whisper in Twilight's ear, "We called it the Smooze, but don't say that word around anypony else. There are still little ponies who lie awake at night in fear it will return." Paradise raised her head, looking around. She motioned to the crest of a tall hill in front of them. "There is Paradise Estates now. Anyway, we managed to find a group of Flutter Ponies to help get rid of the goo. They were hesitant at first, which resulted in the desertion of our old home. They finally agreed to help, but even after the..the...goo is gone, the memories remain. Gusty and Sweet Stuff were both affected, poor things. They don't talk about it, but it must have been horrible. Fortunately, we have the Rainbow of Light to keep us safe. I...I don't know what would become of us now if it weren't for Megan..."

At this point, Paradise stopped in her tracks, pawing uneasily at the ground. "Well, there isn't any sense in wishing otherwise, right? The past is past, and the present..."

"If you don't mind my asking," said Twilight after a heavy, awkward pause, "what's a 'flutter pony'?"

Paradise seemed surprised. "My, you _are_ from far away! Flutter Ponies are slender, graceful ponies with wings like fairies. They use a kind of magic like you unicorns."

They traveled up the hill in silence. Dream Valley...why did that sound familiar to Twilight? Something long ago, from the very corner of her memory...

"Twilight," drawled a voice from her side. "Somethin' ain't right here."

"Yeah," added Dash, who had actually landed and was walking behind them. Like a dragonfly, Rainbow Dash always seemed to be hovering. When all four hooves touched the ground, it generally meant something serious. "Feels kinda like we're walkin' through a cloud – not that you guys would know what that's like. Airy, thick. Hard ta see through. Hard ta breathe, almost."

"Everything's still pretty new here. Maybe they're still getting used to everything." But Twilight could not deny that she, too, felt something odd about the land and the ponies in it. A kind of unsettling feeling, as though Utopia was not as peaceful as it seemed.

Approaching Paradise Estates, they saw many ponies playing outside, scampering about, laughing, eating apples off the trees. There were foals, too. A matronly white mare with a dark pink mane stood among them, occasionally directing and scolding. When the trio arrived, no one gave them a second look, as though small, thin ponies were perfectly normal to this world. However, the mood relaxed enough that Dash felt she could hover again and did so.

Wind Whistler introduced ponies left and right: Buttons, Galaxy, Fizzy, Masquerade, Heart Throb, Surprise, Lickety-Split, Magic Star, Shady...the list went on and on. There seemed too many to keep track, and after a while the trio just nodded greetings. More accurately, Twilight and Applejack did. Dash was preoccupied with the sky.

Nopony was flying, as though they were afraid of heights. Moreover, dark clouds seemed to loom over to the west, pulling toward the Estate. No pegasus was making a move to bust those clouds. Indeed, the nearest pegasus was more interested in sniffing at a dandelion than scanning the sky. Rainbow Dash tried to convince herself that the customs were different here, but to her it seemed criminal that pegasuses would give up their Celestia-given right to control the weather.

"Right, Rainbow Flash?" Twilight prompted, snapping the pegasus back to reality. Or what remained.

"H-huh?"

"I said we can't stay too long. Right?"

"Y-yeah. We gotta try to get back soon." A half-hearted reply, but Dash was keeping one eye on the clouds.

"You're welcome to stay as long as you like," Wind Whistler was saying to Twilight. "Merely communicate your intent to disembark, and I shall be happy to accommodate you."

Twilight gave a short bow. "Thank you. We appreciate your hospitality."

Wind Whistler was about to walk away but stopped, turning back with a grin. "Heh. You know, it's been forever since I've met someone who could actually understand me."

"Trust me, I understand what you're going through." Twilight gave a reassuring smile, knowing full well the mentality of her cohorts in Canterlot and her friends in Ponyville were as different as night and day.

The trio started for the large doors of the Estate when Dash let out a cry. A pink blur whizzed by.

"TAGYERIT!" cried Firefly's voice.

"Aw, no way!" Dash snorted, and before anyone could say anything, she was chasing the fat pink pegasus through the sky. In spite of all the anxiety they felt, Twilight and Applejack found themselves laughing.

"I'm going inside," said Twilight. "You and Dash can stay out here, if you want."

"Go on, Twi," Applejack said. "Somethin' in there gives me the jim-jams, an' Ah'd rather stay out here in the light."

The inside of the Estate was decorated with portraits of strange creatures. Twilight had read in books about gnomes and fairies, both mythical creatures, who had narrow faces, hairless flesh, and oddly-defined features. They supposedly stood solely on two legs. These portraits mirrored the pictures in her books, although she was sure they were neither fairies nor gnomes. The floors were lined with lush carpets; the walls draped with tapestries. The décor almost resembled Celestia's castle but with an older, more genuine feeling, as though the castle in Canterlot was a parody of this one. Ponies bustled everywhere, pushing carts of food with their chests and foreheads. Others lined the halls with paper streamers and confetti. Nopony seemed to take notice of her.

She was about to backtrack when a chime rang out. A veritable flood of ponies came walking through the halls. Lost in the crowd, she had little choice but to follow. They congregated in the main hall, where a long table was laid out with more varieties of food than Twilight had ever seen. Most disturbingly was the appearance of roast meat – or what Twilight assumed was meat – at one end of the table. She caught sight of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who also had been caught in the crowd, and maneuvered her way over to them, feeling better amongst friends.

Once everypony had been seated – although some were forced by lack of space to stand – a loud fanfare announced the arrival of some guest of honor. An odd creature stepped out of a hallway, illuminated by a spotlight from some eager unicorn. It was not a gnome or fairy. It was a lot larger. It stood at least a head and a half taller than the tallest pony. Pink-skinned, it had blonde hair that was tied and was allowed to fall about its shoulders. The blue eyes and smiling lips beheld an nonthreatening countenance, but there was something else about the creature that made Twilight wary. She had learned not to judge by appearances, but this feeling...the same awkwardness Paradise gave off during their arrival.

Consciously, Twilight scanned the crowd for Paradise. She was standing in the back next to Wind Whistler. A vehement scowl crossed her face. Wind Whistler nudged her, and she looked at the ground, the scowl fading into a more neutral expression.

A rather excitable white pegasus, blonde-maned and looking uncannily like Pinkie Pie – Twilight vaguely remembered that her name was Surprise – was announcing. "...our protector and human friend, the guardian of the Rainbow of Light, and our light in the darkness, Megan!"

The room erupted in cheers. Twilight was blocked by several other ponies and could not see Paradise or Wind Whistler.

The human, Megan, took a seat at the head of the table. Two smaller humans joined her, introduced as her brother Danny and her sister Molly. The cheering gave way to perfect silence as Megan began a speech. It was something about the six-month anniversary of surviving the Smooze – and even as Megan said it, Twilight noticed many ponies cringing in fear – and the acclimation of life in Paradise Estates.

"I heard we have some new friends visiting us," called Megan's voice, a high-pitched, lilting tone that mimicked maturity. Suddenly, the sea of ponies parted from the trio, and Twilight was aware of the spotlight on them. They were guided towards Megan, ponies moving hurriedly aside to clear a path.

Face-to-face with the human, the trio tried to disguise their discomfort. Megan smiled kindly at them with enough sincerity to make Twilight doubt her natural instincts. Twilight must have been mistaken; the portal must have messed with her senses. This human, whatever a 'human' was, may have been different but was surely benevolent.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Megan said sincerely, smiling. "What are your names?"

Twilight was vaguely aware from the human's inflection that Megan was talking down to her. However, given the overall frivolous nature of the ponies she had seen, it was probably commonplace for the populace to be treated as foals. There had been no shops, no other buildings, no real work for these ponies to do, so they probably did act like children.

"Twilight Twinkle," the unicorn said, almost forgetting her nom de guerre.

"Rainbow...erm...Flash," said Dash, completely forgetting hers.

"Apple Bloom," said the farmpony, as though she were scolding her little sister instead of merely adopting her name.

"I am Megan," the human said, though at this point her introduction was unnecessary. "I also come from a far-away place. I hope you enjoy yourselves here, my new friends."

Twilight's eyes fell upon a large, heart-shaped red locket affixed to the human's neck. Megan, following her gaze, laughed lightly. "Would you like to see the Rainbow of Light?"

Not waiting for a response, Megan opened the locket. A ribbonlike rainbow burst across the room, swirling about like a flag in the wind. The ponies oohed and aahed while it snaked across the air. Megan reopened the locket, and the rainbow disappeared into it.

"The rainbow is the most powerful magic in all of the land," Megan explained. "It can do anything from chasing off evil monsters to healing the most deadly wounds."

"But why would you have a rainbow do that?" Twilight said, unthinking, "Everypony can do those things themselves."

A light murmur fell across the room. Megan's face scrunched up momentarily, then relaxed. "Perhaps in your land, you do things a little differently. Here, everybody is protected by the Rainbow of Light. There is no need to worry about any danger, because there is nothing that I and the Rainbow cannot overcome. Are you saying that you're more powerful than my Rainbow of Light?"

Twilight remembered herself and remained silent, although memories of a brash and boastful blue unicorn and large and scary baby starbear floated into her mind.

"It must be scary to live in a place like that! But here at Paradise Estates, we are free and can do whatever we wish. I have fought hard for your freedom, and tonight we celebrate it! Please, my friends, enjoy yourselves tonight!"

The room relaxed in a cacophony of conversation as the ponies began their feast. Megan leaned over to Twilight.

"Please come with me for a moment," she said, barely audible over the hungry ponies.

The trio followed her to a small nearby hallway. Megan knelt down next to them. She clutched the heart-shaped locket in one hand and put the other hand on Twilight's crest.

"I don't know where you came from," she started, her tone still childlike but warning, "but I want you to know one thing." Megan's tone changed violently. "_I_ am in charge here, you understand? _I_ have the Rainbow of Light. _Me_." She shook the clenched locket pointedly. Twilight felt the human's fingers tighten around her mane. "So if you have any plans on waltzing in here and taking over, you've got another thing coming. You see those idiots out there? I control them. They will do anything I say because they think this stupid little trinket has any power. This stupid Rainbow fails more than it works. But I'm not about to get off of this gravy train."

Twilight whimpered. Megan was pulling tightly on her mane.

"And don't even think about telling them what I've just said. If you think they'll believe you, you're dumber than they are. Now, I want you little freaks out of here by this time tomorrow. Got it?"

She gave Twilight a violent shake as she released her crest. Applejack and Rainbow were almost literally chomping at their bits, enraged from the moment Megan had laid hands on their friend. But Twilight only turned her flank to the human, herding her friends toward the door.

"Don't worry about that. We were just leaving."

They didn't wait for Wind Whistler to guide them. Dash, with her bird's-eye view, was easily able to locate the place they had appeared. Twilight calculated they had only been gone an hour and a half, so they sat and waited for Fluttershy.

"Do you believe that...that...human or whatever she was?" Dash spun nervous circles in the sky. "How dare she talk to us like that!"

"When she put her hands on ya, sugarcube, I was all fer buckin' her straight in the jaw."

Twilight shook her head. "It's not our place to question them. They'll eventually have to find out the hard way that Megan isn't what she seems. What matters now is that we get home and put all this behind us. I don't know about you guys, but I feel exhausted."

Dash bucked a low cloud. "Makes me so mad! They don't even control the rain here! How do they expect to get anything done?"

"They don't even do no farmin' or harvestin'," said Applejack, pawing sadly at the ground. "An' that other Applejack...Ah don't even wanna think Ah'm anythin' like her. Soon's you left, Twi, she started beggin' other ponies ta git apples down fer her. Like she's too good fer applebuckin'! Whinin' like a school-age filly. How embarrassin'!"

"And what's with those ponies with the freaky eyes? Man, gives me the shivers!"

The unicorn pondered. "Paradise said that Sweet Stuff had that Smooze on her. Maybe that's what turned her eyes weird."

"Yeah, you didn't get to see 'em up close." Dash landed, giving a nervous shiver. "I met this one pegasus, Masquerade. Huge for a pony! Way taller! And she had these weird green eyes, like two freaky diamonds. Scared the hay outta me, that's for sure."

"Well, let's just wait for Fluttershy." Twilight laid down on the ground. Applejack lay beside her. Dash landed and sat, as if standing guard.

Hours passed. The sun began to disappear beyond the horizon, and for the first time in a great while, Twilight could not deliver her message to Princess Celestia.

"I wonder if there even _is_ a Princess Celestia in this world," she sighed morosely.

"Maybe we should go back," Dash said hesitantly. "We don't know what comes out here at night. 'Least they got beds at the Estate."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Twilight scanned the sky for a moon. A small sliver of light was struggling across the sky, but the world was turning dark. She rose to her hooves and started off towards the big hill.

"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy's voice was unmistakeable, coming from behind a nearby tree.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight gasped. "You have no idea how glad I am to-"

But the pony that stepped out was not Fluttershy. She had a yellow coat like Fluttershy. She had a pink mane like Fluttershy. She was timid like Fluttershy, not daring five steps from the tree. But she had no wings, and she was as fat as a barrel.

Twilight tried to hide her disappointment. "Can I help you?"

The pony shuffled at the ground. "I-I'm Posey. I need to...well, I want to...ask for a favor from you and your friends."

"Well, what do you need?"

"Um, I..." The mare's ears went flat against her head. "S-some other ponies and I wanna know if you'd help, um...get...rid...of...um..."

"C'mon, girl, spit it out!" stomped Applejack.

"Help us escape from Megan!" Posey burst. "We hate the way she controls us. We have to do what she says or else she won't protect us with the Rainbow of Light!"

The trio looked shocked. So there _were_ ponies who wanted to live free.

"I'd rather not get involved in anypony's business," Twilight sighed.

Posey came closer. Like the others, she was much larger than Twilight, but the way she cowered made her look tiny. Her large eyes were as green as grass, pleading, begging, staring into Twilight's heart and soul for help.

It was not unlike one of Fluttershy's talents.

"Please, Twilight?" she begged in Fluttershy's feather-soft voice. "I know you are the only ones who can help us."

Twilight looked to her friends. Applejack looked unsure, anxious. Rainbow Dash, however, wore a determined scowl. She nodded in approval.

"Posey, I'm not sure what we can do for you."

"Just come with me. I think you need to see for yourself. I know Wind Whistler will be excited to see you there."

She turned tail and trotted off a few paces, looking back to see if they were following.

"It won't hurt just to see," Twilight murmured aloud, pushing aside her doubts. "And if they need help, we can just refuse and try to stay out of the way as much as possible."

Twilight trotted after Posey, Rainbow hovering behind her. Applejack looked back at the spot where the trio had first appeared. She gave a long sigh and started after her friends.

The meeting place was hidden under the roots of a large tree. It was damp and dimly lit, but Twilight could make out a few familiar faces. She immediately recognized Wind Whistler's stern face. Beside her was a nervous-looking pink pegasus. At first, Twilight thought it was Firefly, but the pegasus looked older. Her mark was a compass rose, and she had darker hair. Twilight also recognized Sweet Stuff, if by no other reason than her eyes. The light of a few candles reflected oddly in her gem-like eyes, reflecting like a cat's eyes in the dark. Twilight saw the white unicorn Gusty standing beside her.

"Those are some freaky eyes," Rainbow whispered. They were still approaching the small crowd of ponies and could not yet be heard.

"Posey, are Sweet Stuff's eyes that way because of the Smooze?" Twilight asked softly.

The shy pony shuddered at the name. "Ohh, please don't mention that stuff! But no, she was just born that way. Legends say that some ponies are born with stars in their eyes. They are just lucky enough to look that way. But it doesn't make them any better or worse than any other pony."

"Oh," said Twilight abashedly. "I didn't mean to sound rude."

Posey gave her a kind smile. "That's okay. You were worried about her health, right? That shows that you care about others, even if you don't know them."

As they came closer, Twilight recognized a few more ponies from the banquet. What stunned her was the absence of Paradise. Twilight was almost certain that she would have been part of this little resistance group. Wind Whistler visibly brightened as the trio and Posey approached.

"You were able to find them, Posey. Thank goodness. Twilight, I apologize for the abruptness and surreptitiousness, but you must understand our position."

"Of course," said Twilight. "I'm just not sure what we can do."

"Any idea. Any inkling of how we can get the Rainbow of Light away from Megan and her siblings long enough to subdue her. But before we can debate that, we have some recon to ascertain. Magic Star, what have you discovered?"

A yellow pony with green hair and a magic wand mark stepped forward. "It's hard to say for certain, but you were right about one thing: the Moochic is gone. His house was in shambles, as if there was a struggle. But no evidence that...that _she_ did it."

"But we _do_ know that the Moochic was considering a spell to nullify the Rainbow's powers."

Magic Star was silent, looking at the ground. An uneasy silence filled the area.

"Is there anything else?" Wind Whistler said impatiently.

"Nothing but rumors. Bird's tales."

"Then there is no-"

"Just a moment," said the pink pegasus beside Wind Whistler. She spoke with a lofty, sophisticated accent. "I would like to hear them."

"North Star," grumbled the blue pegasus, "they are rumors. Capricious scuttlebutt. I would rather not waste our precious time -"

"Would you rather stay in the dark? We should trust any light, however dim it seems."

Wind Whistler snorted, annoyed. "Continue, please."

The yellow pony shifted uncomfortably. "There was a rumor that the Moochic's rabbit was seen leaving the cottage. According to the rumor, he looked...very injured."

Wind Whistler nodded. "Let's hope that _is_ just a rumor. Does anyone else have news?"

A white unicorn with a leaf mark stepped forward.

"Gusty?" Wind Whistler looked confused. "You have news? But you were told-"

"Spike's disappeared!" she burst, silencing the pegasus. Then she succumbed into a fit of sobs.

"Spike...?" Twilight felt something in the pit of her stomach, a wrenching feeling of horror and loss. It was not _her_ Spike – how could it be? - but simply the name was enough to induce panic.

"No," Wind Whistler gasped, shocked. "No, everypony was told to keep him and the babies as a neutral party. He had nothing to do with us or them. He shouldn't have been involved!"

Through her sobs, Gusty took out a slip of parchment from the satchel around her waist. There were little red spots all over the paper. Wind Whistler quickly gave it a scan, and then looked to the ground.

"Oh, Spike. You fool..."

"Spike is our friend," North Star said to Twilight. "A baby dragon that we rescued from a monster."

Twilight's stomach tightened further. A baby dragon who is also named Spike. Missing, perhaps injured. Possibly... Possibly...

"I shouldn't have let him help me," Gusty whimpered, shuffling in her hooves, dropping the parchment from her teeth. "I know you told me to find the pony who's leaking information to Megan. I needed help. I just wanted him to help me. Just a little. I-I never dreamed that anypony would..." She let out a fresh burst of sobs. "I shouldn't have let him help!"

"No, you shouldn't have," scolded Wind Whistler harshly. "This is a tragic loss, and I hope we will all learn to conduct ourselves better. Worse, there is still a mole in our midst. We can only hope that he is merely missing and not...well, the mere thought is abhorrent."

Twilight pawed anxiously at the ground. Her nostrils were flaring, her breathing quick but deliberate. It was not the same Spike. This was a different dimension with different ponies and different dragons. But it had been a baby dragon, just like her Spike. Twilight couldn't imagine what would happen if _her_ Spike were to 'mysteriously vanish' under hostile circumstances. But she was starting to have an idea about what to do now.

"I'll help," she said quietly, drawing Wind Whistler's and North Star's attention.

"Sugarcube," Applejack said from beside her, "Ah thought we weren't gonna get involved."

"There isn't much choice. We can't find our way home, and I'm not about to sit here and let that _human_ hurt anypony else."

"Twilight-" Applejack began. She was halted by a glare from her friend, a terrible look that told her nothing she could say would change Twilight's mind. Twilight leaned closer and whispered something to Applejack, something that put a look of ferocity and anger on the farmpony's face. Then Twilight turned to the rest of the resistance group.

"Everypony, I have a plan."

Nopony noticed when, halfway during the plan's delineation, Applejack sneaked out of the underground shelter.

Megan laid down on the small couch and played with one of her braids. Full, fat, and happy after the banquet, she and her two siblings were lounging around one of the Estate's many living rooms. Her little sister Molly idly licked a lollipop, half-reading some old book. She tore a page out of the book, using it to blow her nose before crumpling it and casting it down on the floor. Megan gave her sister a scowl.

"Really, Molly?"

"What?" said the younger brat, tearing out another page. "It's not like I hafta clean it up. Besides, it didn't have any pictures on it anyway."

"I dunno why you even picked that thing up," said Danny, the middle child. He held up a small slingshot, sending a pebble skittering against the wall, barely missing a glass vase. "You know you can't read."

"I'm _looking_ at the _pictures_, stupid!" Molly retorted. She threw the book at him, causing him to release another pebble. It ricocheted against the wall before cracking a large mirror on the top of a fireplace.

"Seven years bad luck," Molly teased.

"Nuh-uh. You made me hit it. That's _your_ bad luck."

"_My_ bad luck is being your sister."

"Yeah? Well, you-"

"_Enough!_" barked Megan. "You little brats! If you keep breaking everything around here, we'll have to force them to move again. I don't know about you idiots, but if I have to talk to those stupid witches one more time, I'm gonna hafta hit someone."

"You should pick someone better to attack next time." Molly folded a ripped-out page into an airplane, sending it soaring across the room. "They didn't even know how to make Smooze. We basically had to make it for them."

Megan opened her mouth to retort, but a knock at the door silenced her. The door creaked open, and a small orange pony walked in.

"Miss Megan?" she timidly asked.

"Hello there!" said Megan, putting on her friendly face. "Oh, I remember you from earlier. You're Apple Bloom, right?"

"Why, thank ya kindly fer rememberin' mah name, ma'am." The pony removed her cowboy-style hat with a flick of her tail. "Ah'm sorry fer interruptin' ya at this late hour, but...y'see, ma'am, Ah'm an honest pony. Ah don't b'lieve in stickin' mah hooves where they don't need t'be. So Ah jus' feel it's kinda mah duty – as an honest pony an' all – ta tell ya that there's a group a' ponies that're a might mad at ya'll humans."

"Yes, I know," Megan said dismissively. "Trust me, they'll be...dealt with soon enough."

"Well, Ah'm jes' a newcomer 'round these parts. Ah don't know nuthin' 'bout the goings-on. But Ah do hear tell them ponies're gonna try an' take that Rainbow from ya t'morrow sometime."

Megan raised a brow. "Are they, now? Let me guess – your little unicorn friend is helping them?"

"Helpin'? Ma'am, she's co-ordinatin' the whole thing."

Megan got up from her chair. "Apple Bloom, you're a good pony. You'll help me protect the Rainbow from them?"

"Ma'am, so far as Ah see, there ain't no one else fit enough ta rule these ponies. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, as mah Granny Smith would say."

"Well, they can't steal it from me if I don't have it." Megan took the heart-shaped locket off from around her neck. She picked up Applejack's cowboy hat, placed the locket inside, and put the hat back on Applejack's head. "There. Now it's hidden. I hope I can count on you to take care of that Rainbow."

"It can't be any safer. Anypony what tries ta git it, Ah'll give 'em a good buckin'." She gave two powerful bucks then reared, punching at the air with her front hooves.

"Good. I'll get it from you tomorrow after I...talk to some of these unhappy ponies."

"Ah'm sure it's jes' a misunderstandin'. After all, even Ah kin see who's boss 'round here."

Megan knelt down and kissed Applejack on the tip of her nose. "I'll rest easier tonight. Thank you, Apple Bloom."

Applejack gave a bow, smiling, and trotted away. Megan turned to her siblings.

"See? They _can_ be taught. All it takes is a smooth tongue and a firm hand."

She was about to relax on the couch again when another pony burst through the door.

"My lady! News from the resistance! They plan on stealing the Rainbow of Light!"

"Yeah, I know already. I'm planning for tomorrow."

"Not tomorrow! Tonight! They plan to take it tonight!"

Megan panicked for a brief moment then relaxed, laughing. "Well, I already sent the Rainbow off with one of the new ponies. Can you believe she turned against her friends?"

The traitor-pony paled. "M-my lady..._that's how they planned to steal it_."


	3. A Pony and a Plummet

A Pony and a Plummet

"Ah don't like lyin', Twilight. You _know_ Ah don't."

"But did you get it?"

Applejack tossed her head. The necklace slipped over her head and around her neck. "You bet yer bushels Ah got it. But Ah swear, Twi, if you ever try ta get me t'do somethin' like that again, Ah'm gonna applebuck ya straight back ta Canterlot. She _kissed_ me! On the snout!" Applejack rubbed her nose disdainfully.

Twilight chuckled. She had counted on Applejack's particular use of vernacular, hoping her friend's unusual drawl would make Megan think Applejack was, well, a few apples short of a barrel. She hadn't counted on it working so well. "Sorry about that. We couldn't have done it without you, AJ. Now, just keep that thing safe until we've got everything under control."

A loud, angry scream erupted from the Estate.

Twilight jumped. "Everyone! Get ready!"

Outlined by the dusky sky, the group of rebels gathered. Among them were Wind Whistler, Gusty, and North Star. Twilight also noticed Paradise had arrived, but the white pegasus had stuck firmly in the back line. After a moment, Twilight realized that she was speaking to a group of rather shy ponies. Posey was among them, as was Sweet Stuff. Perking up her ears, Twilight caught glimpses of "Try your best. If you don't want to fight, at least stand your ground. Aid the injured, even if they're not on our side."

At her flank, Twilight felt a shiver. It was Applejack. Twilight pressed gently against her friend, steadying her. It took a moment, but Applejack finally gained her resolve, giving a snort of annoyance at her own fear.

"Ah still think this's a bad idea, Twi. But Ah'm behind ya all the way."

"I know. And I appreciate it. I know everything will turn out okay as long as we stick together."

From the sky, Rainbow Dash and a few other pegasuses watched as a small group of ponies started out from the Estate. Megan was in their midst, like a general shielding himself with his army. Dash waved a signal to Twilight.

"Okay, everypony," Twilight said. "These ponies are your friends. Even though they're not eye-to-eye with you right now, they are still your friends. Subdue them, capture them, but please try not to hurt them."

The rebels nodded collectively. Most of them were nervous, frightened, but still stood their ground, held together by their beliefs. The pounding of hooves was coming closer, down the hill around the Estate. Twilight hoped with all of her heart that everything would end up all right.

Those loyal to Megan clashed with the rebels. Almost immediately, Twilight noticed that neither side was suited for battle. Megan's allies were nearly exhausted from the run down the hill, and the rebels were too nervous to fight properly. Neither side was trained; there had been no time. Hooves clumsily knocked together; heads were cast downwards for charging, only to pull up and stop at the last minute. Pegasuses swarmed the sky like confused bees, diving toward each other and pulling away. Thankfully, it seemed that these ponies actually _were_ friends, and even in battle they did not wish to harm one another.

Only a select few were actually attacking. One of these was Gusty. Enraged by the baby dragon's disappearance, her lone goal was to reach Megan. She charged, her head down, nostrils flaring, shoving ponies out of her path. She stopped only once, challenged by another unicorn. The other was magenta, with the same strange eyes as Sweet Stuff. Gusty reared and let out a horrible noise. Anger, terror, panic, and desperation rolled into a single high-pitched whinny, and the other unicorn immediately cowered in fear and let her pass.

Seeing the white unicorn's approach, Megan grabbed a white earth pony with magenta hair. "Truly," she said, "I need your help. You have to protect me!"

"Wh-what? How?"

"Get the little ones from the nursery and bring them here. They won't attack the babies."

Truly's green eyes widened. She stepped back, shocked. "You're gonna use the babies as a shield? Megan, how dare you?"

Truly's drawl, though more eloquent and sophisticated than Applejack's, still reminded Megan of the coup d'etat. She grabbed Truly by the jaw, roughly jerking her. "How dare _I?_ How dare _you_ question my orders! Get those brats over here to protect me!"

The white pony pulled away with an angry grunt. Several ponies around heard the conversation and had halted their assault to listen. Gusty, who had still been charging toward the human, skidded to a halt.

"What's Megan doing?"

"Did...did she just ask for the babies?"

"As a shield?"

Ponies' voices rose up all around Megan and Truly. As the impact of Megan's orders began to dawn on them, their voices turned to anger. Many ponies on Megan's side dropped their attack, much to the relief of their rebelling friends. Led by Gusty, the ponies formed a circle around their human 'friend,' shoving Molly and Danny in with their sister. A few ponies still on Megan's side replied with angry bucks, but by now they were far outnumbered.

Firefly, attacking on Megan's side, was ignorant of the events below. Her aggressive swipes at Rainbow Dash were merely annoyances to the winner of Equestria's Young Flyer's Competition.

"Why!" Firefly cried, swooping again at Dash, who simply fluttered out of the way. "I thought you were my friend! Why are you doing this to us?"

"Where's your pride?" Dash called back. "You're a pegasus. You can do so much more than bow down to some stupid human."

Firefly hovered, wiping at her eyes. "She saved us! Megan and the Rainbow of Light saved us many times! We're grateful to her, that's all!"

Rainbow Dash scoffed. "That rainbow's not in a stupid locket. And I'll prove it to you!"

She zoomed away from Firefly, who made no attempt to give chase. The chubby pink pegasus could only watch as Dash climbed higher and higher into the sky.

Twilight also saw this, noticing against the evening gloom the transparent stripe of rainbow that followed her friend's polychromatic hair. She suddenly understood what Dash was doing, and without thinking, she ran into the midst of battle. Her horn glowed as she ran, and she muttered a voice amplification spell under her breath.

"Everypony, look!" she said, her voice echoing across the clumsy battlefield. To her surprise, everypony stopped and stared at her. She gulped, remembered that these ponies were somewhat accustomed to being commanded, and raised a hoof to the sky.

"You think that human is the only one that can make a rainbow. And you're convinced that a rainbow is the only thing that can help you. But my friend up there is about to show you – you don't need Megan and her rainbow. You all have your own rainbow. The power of the Rainbow of Light? That power is in all ponies! Watch!"

At that last word, although she was much too high up to hear Twilight, Rainbow Dash looped around. She took a deep breath, surprised at how thin the air was, and started downward, preparing her body for the Sonic Rainboom. Putting both hooves in front of her, she lowered her head, no longer fearing the sight of the ground coming at her at high speed. She felt the air warble and flux around her, as though she had dived underwater. After what seemed like forever, a pressure started to push against the tips of her hooves. Tucking her wings in, she fell faster, feeling the Sonic Rainboom forming in her hooves, feeling the rush of air stop against her fetlocks and forearms. Her hair stopped rustling with wind. Her feathers felt as still as a winter morning.

In an instant, the air snapped around her, and the Rainboom formed, splitting the clouds with a large circular rainbow. The rainbow chased after Dash, who hooked around, looped, corkscrewed in circles in an effort to slow herself down. She became aware of a sound, and, after looping the chasing rainbow into a pretzel-like knot, she was able to identify the satisfying and familiar sound of cheering ponies.

When Twilight had first seen the Sonic Rainboom, it had been during daylight. It was impressive even then, but now, as though fighting back the darkness in the land, the Rainboom lit up the night in every color of the rainbow. It was difficult for Twilight to bring herself away from its awe and majesty, but she remembered what had to be done.

"Applejack, now!" she cried.

"On it, Twi!" Applejack said, galloping towards Megan and her siblings, snatching a lasso from her saddlebag.

"Huh?" called the other Applejack, confused. She had been on Megan's side and was standing in the circle surrounding the humans.

The smaller Applejack threw her lasso, catching Megan dead-on. She pulled tightly and ran towards the fatter Applejack with the rope.

"Hol' onna this, sugarcube!" she said through a mouthful of rope.

"But my name's not mmph!" gasped the fatter Applejack, the rope suddenly shoved into her teeth.

"Pull!" the farmpony demanded, whipping out another lasso and catching Megan from the opposite side. The human was now caught between two Applejacks and unable to move.

"You stupid ponies!" Megan cried, her rage boiling. "What are you waiting for? Get them!"

Nopony moved.

"I'm your master," she screamed. "I am the only one who can protect you! I am the keeper of the Rainbow of Light! You will obey me, or you will face the consequences!"

"Not anymore, Megan!" Twilight cried triumphantly. She, Wind Whistler, and North Star broke through the crowd. "Your reign over these ponies is over!"

Danny and Molly instantly fell to their knees, begging and whimpering.

"It's not our fault," Molly whined.

"Megan forced us to do it!" Danny pleaded.

"Quiet!" Wind Whistler stomped. "You will be-"

She was interrupted by a low-flying Rainbow Dash, still trying to slow down after the Rainboom. In the distraction, Danny sprinted over to the smaller Applejack, yanking the locket from her neck.

"Hey!" the farmpony shouted, almost letting go of the rope.

Danny tossed the locket to Megan, and she opened it. The ribbon of rainbow danced in the sky.

"Rainbow of Light!" Megan called, "free me and destroy these wretched ponies!"

Instead, the rainbow bounced almost merrily along in the sky, as though it hadn't heard her.

"You useless piece of junk! Get me out of here!" She writhed in her bonds, making both Applejacks momentarily loose footing. They held tight, and Megan gave a small yelp. The rainbow flowed casually along the breeze. Then, it flew off into the Estate and all but disappeared.

There was a pause. Megan spouted out some strange words that Twilight had never heard. Judging from the other ponies' reactions, they weren't _nice_ words.

"Well, what shall we do with them?" Wind Whistler said while the Applejacks tied up Molly and Danny.

Various suggestions arose, from burying her to her neck in the swamp to simply exiling her to the Shadow Forest, and somepony even suggested ending her life. But Wind Whistler was looking to Twilight for advice.

"We should send them back to wherever they came," Twilight said after some deliberation. "Only a pegasus can bring them here, right? If you take them back home, they can't come back."

"A good idea," said Wind Whistler. "Who wants to take them back?"

Every pegasus suddenly found the grass very interesting.

"Firefly?" Wind Whistler offered. "You were the one to first bring her here."

"I'm sorry I ever did," said Firefly, looking up at the remaining lights of the Rainboom. "I can't bring myself to even touch them."

"I'll do it," North Star spoke up. There were tears welling in her eyes, remembrance of how her human friend used to be. "I'll take them. I'm strong enough, and I'll be quick."

Wind Whistler nodded. The three humans were tied to North Star's back, cursing and begging all the while. North Star rose into the air, dashing off into the night, breaking a line into several of Dash's rainbow-marks in the sky.

"We were blinded," said Firefly to Wind Whistler and Twilight. "We really thought she was the only one that could protect us."

Dash finally slowed down enough to land. Panting, out of breath, but now full of adrenaline, she plopped down beside Firefly. "That was awesome! Best Rainboom I ever did! Aw, but she had ta go and mess it up!" She frowned at the lines North Star had destroyed. Everypony laughed, releasing their tension.

Apologies were passed around by both sides, and everything was forgiven. Promises were made to not let any creature dominate ponies, especially untrustworthy humans. As the ponies started back toward the Estate, the Rainbow of Light appeared from its doors. Under it limped a small pink-and-green creature. Several ponies, especially Gusty, immediately bolted forward.

"Spike!" called Gusty, nearly tackling the baby dragon. He was covered in scrapes and bruises, and one of his eyes was swollen. But he was not badly hurt, and most importantly he was alive. He latched on to Gusty, who was nearly sobbing with joy.

"Spike!" echoed Wind Whistler, trotting up, "what happened to you?"

"I dunno," the baby dragon said, wiping tears from his eyes. "I was talkin' to Gusty, a-and the next thing I know, I was locked up somewhere under the Estate. Megan and Molly were yellin' at me, and Danny was hittin' me. I-I didn't even know they could be so mean! But then I saw the Rainbow, and it got me out and led me up here."

Twilight watched as the Rainbow of Light danced through the sky. She noticed that Paradise had stepped up beside her.

"The Rainbow looks happy," the white pegasus said.

Twilight nodded. "I wonder what will happen to it."

She didn't have to wait to find out. The Rainbow dashed towards her at such an alarming speed that Applejack and Rainbow Dash were instantly at her side. The Rainbow circled the trio at a dizzying speed then shot off towards a clump of trees. After a moment, it came back, circled them again, and sped off.

"I think you should follow it," Paradise said as the Rainbow returned a third time. Twilight picked up the empty locket in her teeth and ran after it.

Followed by their new friends, the trio chased the Rainbow to a small brook. The Rainbow spun around in a circle, faster and faster until all of its colors started to blend together. It spun and spun until it took on a familiar shape.

A portal.

"This is the way home," Twilight gasped. "It must be!"

"Then you should go," urged Wind Whistler, stepping forward. "It isn't civil of us to detain you from your home. But we will always remember you three: Twilight Twinkle, who gave us courage to stand up to our enemies, brave Apple Bloom, who dared so bravely to trick the human, and we will especially remember Rainbow Flash, the pegasus who taught us that rainbows come from within."

Posey, quietly sobbing, burst from the crowd, nuzzling Twilight in an awkward hug. Her tears made her larger body seem small and humbled. "Please don't leave, Twilight! I want you to stay!"

Twilight smiled and nuzzled the fat pony in return. "I'm sorry, Posey. I wish I could say 'see you soon,' but instead, I'll have to say 'good-bye'."

The fat Applejack faced her doppelganger. "Wow! That was some fancy trick you pulled with that rope! I wanna learn how to do that!"

The farmpony tipped her hat proudly. "Hard work an' practice, sugar. That's th' only way anypony'll go places in the world. Maybe ya'll should try plantin' yer own seeds, too. That way, ya'll will have food all winter long."

The orange pony gave a loud gasp, as if this was the most brilliant idea ever devised. "Whoa, that would be so awesome! How do you come up with this stuff?"

The farmpony, bewildered, simply blushed.

"Guess no more tag," said Firefly, kicking at the ground.

Rainbow Dash grinned at her. "Tag? That's foal stuff. I wanna see you do a Sonic Rainboom."

Firefly thought for a moment, then jumped, arching her body in a playful pose. "Nuh-uh! I'm gonna do better than that! I'm gonna do a-a Thundering Firebolt! It's gonna be, like, ten times more awesome than a silly Sonic Rainboom! You'll see!"

"Keep tryin', kid. You'll be juuust as cool as me...someday."

Laughter echoed against the trees, delaying goodbyes. The portal gave a glowing spark, urging the foreign ponies homeward.

Twilight offered the locket to Wind Whistler. "This should belong to the ponies. I trust you'll keep it safe?"

"Rather," replied the pegasus, pushing the locket back, "we shall let the Rainbow of Light run free. We have no right to capture it, just as Megan had no right to dominate us. Take the locket with you, so that the Rainbow can never be contained."

Twilight levitated the locket around the smaller Applejack's neck, a reminder of the dangerous risk she took in deceiving Megan. Applejack looked derisively at it, the honest pony not truly wanting a reminder of _lying_, but forced a grin when she saw the expression of pride in Twilight's face.

With that, the three waved their goodbyes and stepped into the portal, eager to return home.


	4. Part 2: A Pony and a Problem

A Pony and a Portal

Chapter Four – A Pony and a Problem

One moment, Twilight Sparkle was waving good-bye to her new friends, walking through a portal made from a magical rainbow. The next moment, she was flat on her face in the dirt.

It didn't help that Rainbow Dash and Applejack immediately crashed on top of her.

The three staggered to their feet. Twilight didn't even have time to wipe the stars from her eyes before a burst of noise directly in her ear brought them back tenfold.

"TWIIIILIIIIIIIGHT!" Posey's voice screeched. The poor unicorn could almost pinpoint the exact moment her ears started bleeding.

"Posey!" she half-groaned half-gasped, "you weren't supposed to follow us into..."

The stars in her eyes gave way, showing her a thin, small Posey. With wings. And aquamarine eyes. Twilight jumped and almost tackled her friend. "Fluttershy! It's you!"

"I'm so sorry, Twilight!" the yellow pegasus said, immediately reverting back to quiet mode. "It's just that I was waiting so long and I was afraid you weren't coming back, so I kept yelling. But I thought that maybe I wasn't yelling loud enough, so I – Twilight, are you okay?"

Twilight was staring not at Fluttershy but at a rope around Fluttershy's waist. It hovered in midair and seemed to cut off into nothing. Fluttershy herself was not looking well. Her eyes were red and tired, and she seemed very worn out.

Motioning to the rope, Twilight said, "What's going on?"

"We...we left the spot you told us to wait. We couldn't help it! Spike was coming, and he needed some help, and we didn't want him to know that you were missing. When we came back, a portal opened. But we must've been in the wrong spot..."

"How long have you been waiting here?"

Fluttershy gave a tired sigh. "I don't know. I'm just glad you're here, Twilight. I can't go back. I can pull the rope, but it doesn't go back through. I was so lonely and scared." At this she started sobbing quietly. Twilight stood close to her, comforting her.

"Not like the rest of us ain't tired. After that battle, too." Applejack collapsed on the ground, sighing. "Just ta find out we ain't even home."

"Battle?" Fluttershy looked concerned.

Twilight shook her head. "First thing's first. Let's get everyone in one spot. Fluttershy, move forward and let's see if Rarity and Pinkie are still there."

Nodding Fluttershy took a few steps forward. She stopped with a squeak. "Oh, somepony's got the rope."

"Keep going."

Fluttershy pulled a little but didn't move a hair. Applejack and Rainbow grabbed the rope in their teeth.

"Not too quickly," Twilight warned, "or we'll lose them. Slow, careful, like playing with a cat."

Soon it became clear that two ponies were pulling desperately on the other end. But the farmpony and the athlete could not be outpowered by a dressmaker and a baker. With one great tug, two ponies appeared out of nowhere, pummeling the other four with such force that they all tangled together in one large multicolored pile.

"Wow, Fluttershy! You got stronger!" Pinkie Pie observed from the top of the pile. She flipped onto her feet. "Oh, you're Twilight and Rainbow Dash and Applejack, too."

"Pinkie, isn't that...?" Twilight pointed to the pendant around the pink pony's neck.

"Yup!" The fang necklace swiveled from Pinkie's neck. She almost seemed proud of it.

"Kinda suits ya," said Dash, smirking. "Well, in a really creepy way."

"Okay, everypony, listen up." Twilight explained the situation, including their battle at Paradise Estates. At once, Rarity 'hmph'ed loudly and sat down with a pouting thud.

"If we're just going to get back home after all of this," said Rarity, more than a touch of anger in her voice, "then why in Equestria didn't you just leave us there?"

"What if we didn't return after a day?" Twilight answered. "What if we were gone for several days? What would you and Pinkie do? Hold on to Fluttershy's rope for days on end? No, it's best that we're all together. That way nopony would worry about the others."

It sounded like a good excuse, but in reality Twilight wanted safety in numbers. Having only two comrades during the situation in Paradise Estates had been a little unnerving. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy may not be valuable if there happened to be another physical combat, but Twilight still felt better having them near.

"Fluttershy, have you found out anything about this place?"

The shy pegasus shook her head. "I saw some squirrels and birds, but they were very frightened of me. I'm not sure where we are."

It appeared, initially, that they were in a forest clearing. However, Twilight noticed that the 'clearing' was a little too manicured to be completely wild. A row of high bushes formed a straight wall beside them. They were flanked by trees, which arched in a semicircle. The grass was short and uniform. It was more like a park than a clearing. Twilight's immediate concern, however, was the approaching darkness as the sun was starting to set.

"You haven't seen any ponies?" Twilight continued. Fluttershy shook her head. "We'll have to find a place to rest soon. I don't know about you guys, but Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and I are –"

Twilight stopped, sensing a presence nearby. Twelve ears pricked up in attention as the bushes behind them rustled.

"See? I told you, Patch." A quiet voice called through the shrubbery. "There's someone here."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash, tired as they were, stood in front of the other four, ready to defend themselves. The effort was meaningless, however, as two young fillies appeared from the bushes.

They could only be called fillies due to their fresh looks, bright eyes, and overall sense of inexperience. The two stood, almost a head taller than the six friends, looking perplexed. They both were oddly similar; they had a light coat – perhaps white or darker, it was hard to tell in the dimming light – and their manes were shades of pink.

"Oh my goodness!" squeaked out the smaller of the two, who had the quiet voice heard earlier. "Are they babies?"

"Babies!" cried Rainbow Dash, fluttering her wings in irritation.

Twilight gave the pegasus a nudge and stepped forward. "No, we're not babies. We're just...ah...short."

The smaller pony shrunk back. "There are so many of you!"

The other pony scoffed and said, in a rough but feminine voice, "See, Sweetheart? I toldja there wasn't nothin' to be scared of."

Twilight flinched at the atrocious grammar. "Well, it's certainly...nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Twinkle." She gave meaningful looks to the blue pegasus and orange farmpony, and they both seemed to understand. "This is Apple Bloom, and this is Rainbow Flash."

"I'm Peachy Pie!" Pinkie Pie said, getting the joke. Rarity and Fluttershy were too surprised to respond, so Twilight introduced them as "Rhinestone" and "Flutterheart."

"I'm Sweetheart," said the smaller pony.

_Oh__, __that__'__s __her __name__, _Twilight thought in relief. _For __a __minute __there__, __I __assumed__..._

"Patch!" said the other pony. Her low voice had occasions of squeaks in it, as though she was trying too hard to make her voice deep. "Hey, we can't sit here all night. C'mon, Sweetheart, we gotta meet up with the others."

"You can come with us if you want," Sweetheart offered gently. Patch rolled her eyes and walked out of the shrubbery. Tentatively, Twilight followed. Her suspicions had been right; it _was_ a park.

The bushes opened up to a large paved road. Several houses blanketed the gently sloping hills. Streetlights flickered on as the day grew darker.

"Sorry if this sounds weird," said Twilight to her new acquaintances, "but what is this place?"

Patch scoffed again, turning around. "What? You mean you..."

She stopped flat. Twilight realized the filly was staring at her horn. An odd expression swept over Patch's face, a mixture of joy and disbelief.

"No. Way."

Twilight felt her face grow hot. "Wh-what?"

Patch gave out what could only be described as a 'fangirl squeal.' It was the same excited squeak that Rarity had let out after she – well, Fluttershy, actually – had been chosen by Photo Finish. It was the same as every girly noise that ever erupted from Rainbow Dash when the Wonderbolts were involved.

"You're a unicorn!" Patch burst. "I was _so_right! Come on, I gotta show you to the others!" She grabbed Twilight's hoof and pulled her along, making the tired unicorn hobble a few steps.

Twilight gasped, impulsively pulling her hoof back at the weird touch of Patch's hoof.

The ponies of Equestria had very unique hooves, as far as ponies go. Over the years, their hooves had changed from mere stiff extensions of their feet into a softer, slightly pliable foot. They could form a clumsy grasp by tightening the muscles around their bones where their toes would have been. It was not as adept as, say, a dragon's claw, but it served its purpose. Mares in particular seemed to flex their hooves more easily; the heavier and more muscular stallions had thicker hoof walls. Either way, an Equestrian pony could not bend its hoof directly in half.

Patch could, and had.

Twilight stared at the pony before her, shocked and embarrassed. Patch didn't seem to notice, standing on a paved path, a goofy, excited grin on her face. She jumped twice in the air before starting down the sidewalk in a rushed walk, waving at Twilight to follow her.

The other ponies emerged from the brush. Twilight turned to them.

"Let's be careful of these ponies, girls. I think there's more to them than meets the eye."

After a few minutes of walking, the eight came to a large soda shoppe. Oddly, it seemed to be connected to a styling salon, like the product of some bizarre dream. Patch and Sweetheart sat down at a table with five other ponies, pulling up chairs for the other six.

In the darkness, the two ponies had looked similar, but Twilight now saw subtle differences. Patch was darker, almost dirtier-looking in her off-white coat and dusty rose mane. Sweetheart was a lot cleaner-looking with brighter colors of the same hue. Patch had, as her mark, a mismatched square of cloth, as though somepony got lazy and just sewn on her Cutie Mark. Twilight hoped the Cutie Mark Crusaders never got the same idea. Sweetheart's mark was simply three hearts, one large and two small.

The other five were thankfully dissimilar. One pink, blonde-maned, with four stars; one dark pink with blue hair and a microphone mark; one lavender with light pink hair with a clover as her mark; one yellow with purple hair with three candies; and one cyan-colored with a bright orange mane with the mark of a notebook and pen. Twilight felt especially sorry for this last pony; she seemed genetically defaulted to the color of ugly. Sweetheart introduced them as Starlight, Melody, Clover, Bonbon, and Bright Eyes. These names immediately ran out of Twilight's tired mind like water through a sieve.

"I told you unicorns existed!" Patch snarked at her friends, pushing Twilight in front of her like a piece of art on display. The ponies stared at Twilight for a moment with mouths agape like drunken goldfish. Patch dragged Rainbow Dash out beside Twilight. "And this one has wings!"

Grouchy but complacent, Dash was in no mood to put up a fight. She glared at the gawkers like an angry zoo lion, and the ponies quickly retreated back to their sundaes.

"It's nice to meet you all," injected Rarity as Twilight stared, "and I'm sure that we have a lot of explaining to do about ourselves and why we're here. However, it _has_ been quite a long day, so if you could point us in the direction of the nearest hotel – preferably with a jacuzzi and room service – we would be glad to tell you everything in the morning."

_Thank __you__, __Rarity__!_ Twilight hid a relieved sigh.

The seven fillies merely looked at each other in confusion. "Sorry," spoke up the pink, blonde one. "I have no idea where a hotel is in this town."

"We're pretty far away from the city," the cyan pony explained apologetically. "There's a bed-and-breakfast, but I heard it charges about two hundred jangles a night."

"Oh, that's no problem! I-" Rarity stopped. "Did...did you say _jangles__?_"

"Unless there's some other kinda money," snorted the dark pink one.

Rarity bit her lip, turning to the others. "I have money on me; almost a thousand bits. But I've never heard of a jangle before."

"Then we're stuck," said Twilight hopelessly.

"Nonsense!" burst Patch after a pause. "You guys can stay in our clubhouse! There's a lotta room, and we'll all chip in to get ya somethin' to eat! Starlight?"

"On it!" The pink pony slid out of her seat and walked behind the soda shoppe's counter.

"Starlight works here," explained Patch. "And Starlight's mom works on the other side in the salon."

Twilight was too tired to care. Rarity showed fake interest. Dash still glowered fiercely at the dark pink pony and the cyan one, both of which were trying not to stare. Pinkie Pie was extremely interested in Starlight's abandoned sundae but not much else. Applejack and Fluttershy just sat quietly and tried to stay out of the way.

Twilight's group ate dinner – macaroni and cheese, a juvenile but greatly appreciated meal – and were led to the fillies' clubhouse. Twilight was surprised to discover that their clubhouse was quite large and spacious. She was also surprised to find that none of the fillies lived in the house sitting on the same plot of land. While the fillies explained that the inhabitants of the nearby house were friendly neighbors, Twilight remained wary.

"Who builds a clubhouse on somepony else's land?" she said, adjusting the small pillow she'd been given. "I don't think I can take any more surprises today. If the ponies in that house come here for any reason, they'd better be prepared to get turned into cacti. I'm not in the mood."

"It's not that bad," said Pinkie, who had somehow gathered three pillows in a pile and snuggled in under them. She had placed her blanket on top of the pile and now resembled a lumpy pink hunchback under a cowl. "At least their pillows are comfy! And I have lotsa room 'cause I move a lot when I sleep."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Twilight smirked, looking at Rarity.

"You must admit, they are polite for such young fillies. They try, at least, to be more adult than they appear. Although I don't think they're convinced that _we__'__re_ not children."

"I guess. What do you guys think?"

Hearing no response, Twilight looked in the corner. Applejack was lying on her side, hooves under her head, making little whinny-snores. She hadn't even used a pillow or blanket. Rainbow Dash was flat on her back, wings spread, passed firmly out. Her hooves gave little twitches, as though she were running in her sleep. Fluttershy was hugging a pillow, nuzzling into it, giving contented sighs.

Twilight smiled, feeling her own sleepiness start to overcome her. She lay down on the hard floor and pulled a pillow under her head. "I guess they're not so bad."

That night, Twilight dreamed of strange, bent hooves.


	5. Part 2: A Pony and a Patch

A Pony and a Portal

Chapter 5 – A Pony and a Patch

Morning seemed to come too soon. Twilight found herself stiff from sleeping on the hard floor and wondered how ponies ever managed to survive without soft beds. Uncharacteristically, she woke last. The other five were sitting at a table eating breakfast muffins.

"Murninf," Pinkie Pie mumbled, spraying muffin crumbs everywhere. Rarity gave her a reproachful look but rolled her eyes in defeat.

"Everypony sleep well?" Twilight offered, crawling up into a chair.

They mumbled affirmatives. Twilight hovered a muffin over to her plate, inspecting it wearily, deciding if the rough sleep had left her any appetite. She had only taken a nibble or two of the dry bread when Patch and the others burst through the door. Her stomach instantly turning, Twilight dropped the muffin and took a large swig of the provided orange juice as though it was liquid courage. She was not awake enough to explain things.

Fortunately, she didn't have to explain. As soon as the seven fillies sat down, Patch asked, "You're all from beyond the Wall, aren't ya?"

"Wall?" ventured Applejack.

"The big Wall that separates us from the rest 'a the world. Everyone says that there's dangerous stuff outside, but I knew it was just other ponies. Never figured there'd actually be unicorns and pegasi out there, though."

"Sorry we didn't believe you, Patch," said Sweetheart. A few others murmured in agreement.

"What's outside the Wall?" asked the lavender one with pink hair. Clover was her name, if Twilight's memory was correct.

Twilight suddenly found everypony looking at her, friends included. She felt herself starting to sweat. "W-well, just some towns and forests and, you know, normal stuff."

"How did you get through?"

"Why do the grown-ups say to stay out of it?"

"Can we go see it with you?"

"Ladies!" Rarity saved the day again. The fillies immediately quieted down. "It was merely an accident that landed us here. We are not sure of the differences between your world and ours. Simply put, we are looking for a way to get back across this 'Wall' and would appreciate any help you'd be willing to give."

The seven fillies looked amongst each other in confusion. Finally, the cyan pony spoke out. "I don't know anything about magic. I didn't even think magic existed. But the first place _I_would look would be the school library."

Twilight relaxed, smiling at her favorite word. "Excellent idea, Bonbon."

"I'm Bright Eyes!" the cyan pony corrected.

"_I__'__m_ Bonbon!" said the pony next to her, the yellow one with purple hair.

"Of course. My mistake." _Too __many __names__! _"Bright Eyes, can you take me to the library?"

"Certainly!" Evidently 'library' was her favorite word, too. "We can all go!"

"You know I'd _love_ to go," said Patch, her sarcasm apparent, "but I gotta go practice with the boys. Catch up to you later?"

"Can we go, too?" said Dash and Applejack simultaneously, balking at the idea of an afternoon in the library.

"I've got work," said the pink blonde. "Mom wants me to run the salon today."

"Aw, but Starlight!" Bright Eyes pouted.

"I think I'll go with Starlight," Rarity said. "I'm interested to know what sort of fashions these ponies wear. Research, you understand."

"Ooh! Starlight! Can you make me one of those yummy-licious sundaes like last night?" Pinkie jumped excitedly out of her seat.

"I've got band practice," Melody said, arrogantly flipping her sapphire mane. Twilight distinctly remembered the dark pink pony as the cocky one. "Remember, you guys said you'd come over and help me watch the twins tonight."

"And I've got to watch my sisters today," Sweetheart said. "Mommy and Daddy just got them a new pet bunny, and I have to make sure nothing happens to it."

"A bunny? M-maybe I can help you?" Fluttershy offered quietly. Sweetheart smiled and nodded her approval.

So Patch left with Dash and Applejack. Starlight started toward the soda shoppe/salon with Rarity and Pinkie Pie in tow. Sweetheart and Fluttershy talked quietly about bunnies as they walked away. Twilight looked at Bright Eyes.

"They always do this," she grinned.

Twilight grinned back. "I know what you mean."

To say that Twilight was disappointed would belie a unicorn's truest emotions. To say that she had been emotionally and intellectually crushed, that her hopes had been dashed into a million pieces, that her whole idea of the term 'library' had been turned on its end would be slightly closer to the truth.

Twilight found herself staring blankly at seven bookshelves, the whole of the Coltonville high school library. Seven bookshelves that were not even entirely full. Seven bookshelves coated with layers of dust.

Bright Eyes trotted to one of the cleaner-looking bookshelves. The section – if one could call it a 'section' – was marked 'Romance.' "This is my favorite shelf. The research books should be over there."

She pointed a hoof at the far shelf. Twilight's lip curled as she investigated the rows of mismatched, uncategorized, unalphabetized books. She chased a few spiders away as she read the titles.

"_A __Guide __to __Bugs_. _The __Ocean __and __You__. __Scary __Tales __from __Beyond __the __Wall__._ _Dream __Symbols __from __A __to __Z__._ That's not really research. _The __Filly__-__sitters __Club_?" She poured over all the titles in that shelf, the shelf next to it, and the shelf next to that before giving a deep sigh. "Bright Eyes, there's nothing here that can help me."

Bright Eyes was giggling, holding open a thin romance novella. She didn't appear to be listening. Twilight groaned with frustration before a thought struck her mind.

"Wait! When Patch first saw us, she said that she was 'right' about unicorns existing. Does that mean she's seen unicorns before?"

At length, Bright Eyes looked up. "Oh, it was just a story. She and Bonbon stole a hot air balloon and got lost and Patch said that she saw some flying ponies and one of them had a horn. Patch said the ponies saved them, but she's been known to stretch the truth on several occasions."

_One __of __them __had __wings__...__and __a __horn__?_ A spark of excitement flew up Twilight's spine. "Quick! We need to find Patch. I want to talk to her about these ponies."

Applejack fell on her back for the fourteenth time. The black-and-white checkered ball in front of her hadn't budged, and now it seemed to mock her in its immobility.

"Ah don't see how we're s'pposta do this!" she groaned, getting back up.

Dash was hovering beside her, back hooves lowered to where they barely grazed the ground. "I'll show ya how it's done!" she said, pulling back one of her back hooves. She swung forward, but the upward thrust of her wings mixed with the purchase of her kick merely sent her into a midair spin. Her hoof barely grazed the soccer ball, and it moved just a hair.

"That's how it's done, all right!" Patch laughed from the goal.

Behind Dash and Applejack, three colts were rolling in the grass, laughing riotously. A tan-coated one, introduced as Ace, pounded his hoof on the ground between laughs. Teddy, blue-furred with short orange hair, laughed like a braying donkey. The third, Lancer, blue with red hair, tried to keep his chuckles to a minimum but was failing miserably.

"Ah don't think this 'socker' thing is my cuppa tea," Applejack announced

"Maybe if you could walk right!" Teddy brayed, getting up on his back legs and doing a moronic little dance as an example. Ace ran toward one of the soccer balls, sending one flying towards Patch. She caught it with her front hooves.

"Ah'm gonna buck 'em straight in the applecores," Applejack growled to Dash.

"Better get in line," the pegasus snarled. "'cause I get first dibs."

Teddy gave the girls a nasty smirk, setting his hooves on his hips. "See?"

"Maybe if y'all could _kick_right, ya'll wouldn' hafta walk silly like that!" To prove her point and vent her frustration, she bucked the nearest soccer ball. It screamed through the air, narrowly missing Patch's head and effortlessly putting a hole in the soccer net. The ball continued onward, past the park, across a couple streets. Finally, it landed with the sound of breaking glass.

Everypony froze, their eyes wide as saucers. With an embarrassed cough, Applejack found the grass suddenly very interesting.

"I think that's my house," gulped Teddy. He ran off to investigate. Ace started cracking up again as he and Lancer followed.

Applejack was relieved to find Twilight and Bright Eyes coming through the park to meet them. Relieved, of course, that Twilight had come _after_ the window had been broken.

"How's everything going?" Twilight said.

"This stinks," said Dash, landing on the ground. "They want you to walk on your _back_ legs and run around, and then they want you to kick the stupid ball while you're tryin' ta balance. What kinda sick game _is_ this?"

"Ah guess you were right about more to 'em than meets the eye. These ponies almost act like that Megan creature sometimes. Ah mean, didja see the way they're bendin' their hooves?"

"That's what scares me. What if this is some dimension with creepy pony-human hybrids?"

The three shared a nauseated shudder.

"Didja find out how ta get us outta here, Twi?"

Twilight sighed. "I'm afraid not, Applejack. Not yet, at least. But if Patch has seen other unicorns, or even other pegasi, maybe somepony somewhere knows _some_thing." She led the two over to the soccer net, where Patch was packing up. "Hey Patch? Bright Eyes said that you found other pegasi and unicorns. Can you take me to them?"

"Well, maybe." Patch slid off her goalie gear and put it in a gym bag. Twilight winced as the filly's hoof clenched the zipper. "It was a while ago. They might be far away by now. Plus, we need a hot air balloon, and it's not like Miss Hackney will let me borrow one after what happened last time."

"Trust me, that's no problem. I'm fully licensed to fly hot air balloons." She turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash. "Will you guys come with me?"

Applejack, still embarrassed from the broken window and reminded of the heart-shaped locket around her neck, shifted uncomfortably but nodded. Dash happily agreed. "Anything if it gets me outta practicing 'socker'."

Within minutes, they were loading up into the balloon's basket. Mr. Kiddoo, the balloon's owner, was wary of letting three strange-looking ponies borrow his beloved and expensive equipment, but he couldn't deny that Twilight indeed had an official balloonist's license. Why he had been at Miss Hackney's house way past business hours was a little questionable, but high school teachers are allowed to have private lives, too.

"It was past Pony Island." Patch pointed a hoof to the northeast. Twilight adjusted the speed and direction with her telekinesis. It was a windy day to be flying, and controlling the balloon over the ocean wind had been more difficult than Twilight anticipated. They passed over a small island that was lush with vegetation and headed towards a rocky jut of land far in the distance. Fog began to fill the air, unusual for their altitude.

"Are we getting close?" Twilight asked, stopping the balloon in fear of the fog.

"I think it was around here. If there are sharks down below us, we must be close."

"Ah think Ah wanna get offa here," Applejack coughed. Her face was as green as her Granny Smith's.

Twilight felt her hope waning. A filly's fairy tale. That's all this little venture was. She had probably hallucinated the flying ponies due to lack of atmospheric oxygen. If there were no ponies, there was no way of telling where they were, where this 'Wall' was, or if there was a way to get home. Twilight had repeatedly tried to remember the map of Equestria. She didn't recall any wall or partition where a separate group of ponies could live. She didn't even recognize this ocean.

She shivered with a chill greater than that of the windy ocean. Stuck a mile above ground over open sea, she suddenly realized that she may never see Princess Celestia again. She dropped to her knees in the basket and tried to fight back tears.

In times of great misery and doubt, we often call out to those whom we trust or believe in the hope they will somehow help us. Now, Twilight wanted to scream out to the heavens, calling Celestia's name until she magically appeared and made everything all right.

"Hey, what's that?"

Rainbow Dash's voice brought Twilight out of her doldrum. She peeked out of the side of the balloon in the direction of Dash's outstretched hoof. Hovering just above the rock in the distance was a small, pony-like shape. A _flying_ pony-like shape.

Twilight pulled the balloon closer, fearing the thickness of the fog but also feeling her hope surge. When she got too close, the pony-shape appeared to back away, as if afraid. She stopped the balloon again.

"Rainbow Flash," Twilight started after struggling to remember Dash's fake name, "can you fly over and see what it is?"

"Why? I mean, clearly, it's another pony," Dash said in a voice that chastised Twilight's intelligence.

"Go talk to it if it's another pony. But be careful; the wind is really strong here."

"I got this." Dash flew out, carefully approaching the other figure. The blue of her coat matched the sky, and she seemed to disappear in the fog. Suddenly, the silhouette of her figure was seen careening wildly as a huge gust of wind picked up. Twilight steadied the balloon, but Rainbow Dash was blown off-course. Her wings couldn't catch the wind in time, and she started to fall.

"No!" Twilight and the others nearly jumped over the railing in panic. Twilight struggled to reach the falling pegasus with her magic, but Dash was beyond her range.

The pony-like figure leaped into action, making a dive for Rainbow Dash. Another figure appeared from the rock and assisted the first. Together, they took Dash back to the rock.

Twilight panicked. She didn't know if these were actually ponies. What if they were feral gryphons or rocs or some other pony-eating creature? She fired the burner as high as it could go, pushing the balloon into the fog. Another figure swooped out of the rock and approached them.

It was a pegasus. Thank Celestia, it was another pegasus. Twilight slowed the balloon down, almost crashing into the pony as it approached. He was a blue-furred pegasus with a red and yellow striped mane. He seemed as surprised to see Twilight as she was to see him.

"Wow! I can't believe somepony made it all the way out here!" he said.

"My friend-" Twilight started.

The pegasus waved a hoof. "She's okay. A little wind-whipped, but fine. I'm Starglow. The others said you're welcome to come down, so I'll guide you."

Twilight followed Starglow to a ledge by a cave. Inside the cave, Rainbow Dash was laying on a small bed of straw. Aside from looking as green as Applejack, she seemed fine.

"I hate the ocean," she gurgled when Twilight nudged her.

Two other pegasi came up. One was bright orange with pink mane, introduced as Brightglow. The other, Happyglow, was pink with blue and white striped hair. After them came an alicorn stallion. Like Happyglow, he was pink with blue and white stripes, although a slightly darker hue.

Excitement and disappointment mixed as Twilight realized the alicorn was neither Celestia nor Luna. Still, the thought of a third alicorn was big news.

Excitement completely vanished as the wings of these three suddenly dissipated into mist.

"Wh-what?" Twilight only muttered what everypony was thinking.

"Sorry if you were fooled," said Starglow. "Dazzleglow here has such great magic that he made wings for each of us. That's how we got here, and that's how we were able to save you. I'm really the only pegasus here."

Twilight forced herself to smile. "Don't think we don't appreciate it. I guess I just thought you were...somepony else."

"Hey, I remember you!" Brightglow motioned to Patch. "You and your little friend were in that same balloon!"

"I remember you, too!" warbled Patch, a little starstruck. "I always wanted to see you guys again! Why do you guys live so far out, anyway? It'd be awesome if you lived in Coltonville!"

The four ponies looked at each other, and each gave a disappointed sigh. Brightglow smiled sadly. "Perhaps if things were different out there, we would be able to live free again." She looked over Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. "However, these three are friends. Perhaps there is hope."

"I don't understand," Twilight started. "Don't earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies live together?"

"They did, before the war. Now there are only tribes of each race, each of them thinking the others as inferior. A ridiculous idea; we all have our strengths and weaknesses. The four of us escaped because our friendship was threatened by this prejudice. This rock is our haven – and also our prison. Occasionally, we venture out to see if things have changed, but we can't go too far. Dazzleglow is powerful, but even his power has limits."

"I'm very sorry about that," Twilight said. She looked over at her friends, who were slowly recovering their colors. She couldn't imagine a world where there were just unicorns or just earth ponies. It was the combination of these that made life magical.

"I wanted to ask," Twilight began again, preparing herself for another disappointment, "since you know something about magic, do you know anything about portals?"

"Portals?" said Brightglow.

"It's how we got to this place. We don't live where Patch and her friends live. And all we want is to go back to our own home."

"Well, how did you get to this place?"

"There was a pendant that brought us here. Come to think of it, it was a pendant that brought us through the first portal, too."

"Perhaps it's another pendant, then?" offered Starglow.

"Perhaps. Patch, do you know anything about any special pendants? Anything legendary or mystical?"

Patch thought for a moment. "Sorry, I don't. Maybe the other girls know something."

Twilight sighed, turning to the refugee ponies. "Is there anything else you can tell me?"

Brightglow shook her head. "I've never heard anything about portals, not even in legends. I'm sorry; I wish we could be of more help."

Gloom filled the cave. Twilight started to wonder if calling out for Celestia really would help. As she let out another sigh, Patch interrupted her thoughts.

"Twilight? I'm sorry, but I have to get back. We all promised Melody we'd help watch her sisters."

"All right," Twilight said reluctantly. "I guess we're finished here. I hope you're right, Brightglow. I hope this world changes for you, and that you and your friends can live in peace."

"Hope is all we have, but it's enough to keep us together."

As they started back to Coltonville, Applejack and Rainbow Dash curled up in the corners of the basket. They avoided looking out across the ocean, agreeing that they'd had too much high-seas activity today.

It dawned on Twilight as she watched the sun begin its descent into the sea that last night had been the first night she didn't write to Princess Celestia. Though she knew she wouldn't be able to send the letter, she took out a scroll and quill from her bag. The quill glowed a light purple as she started to write.

_Dear __Princess __Celestia__,_

Twilight stopped, staring at those three words for what seemed like forever, thinking of the appropriate comment to make next. She could tell of her trip, of the strange ponies she'd met and things that she and her friends had done. But something else weighed heavily on her heart. She raised the quill again.

_Dear __Princess __Celestia__,_

_I __miss __you and __I __want __to __go __home__!_


	6. Part 2: A Pony and a Puppet

When Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack arrived, Sweetheart was already upstairs, helping Melody with her twin sisters. Bright Eyes and Clover were in the kitchen preparing a meal for the young fillies. Fluttershy was curled up on a chair, trembling, pale to the point of whiteness.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?" Not that a frightened Fluttershy was a rare occurrence, but an afternoon petting bunnies with Sweetheart would not logically end up in such a sight.

"Their...hooves..." she whispered, haunted. Evidently, she had experienced the horror as well. She wouldn't say anything else, no matter how much Twilight prompted. A voice at the door announced Rarity and Pinkie Pie, forcing Twilight to abandon her efforts. Sometimes Fluttershy really was a lost cause.

"Hey guys," Twilight said, rounding the corner to greet them. "How was the – _what in the name of Celestia!_"

Rarity's beautiful violet curls had been all but destroyed. It was poofy, fuzzy, permed in little sharp waves. Her bangs had been cut shorter and plastered peacock-like on her forehead. Rarity gave Twilight a woeful look and sighed.

"It's called 'crimping.' Evidently, this is the new...style."

"Style? That's being generous."

"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie Pie suddenly screeched in her ear. Twilight started, jumping about a foot in the air. As she turned to scold her friend for once again sneaking up behind her, she saw what had been done to Pinkie Pie and was instantly struck dumb.

Pinkie's pink fluffy hair had been cut about half its length, dyed _bright green_, and spiked up in a monstrous mohawk. Her tail had been treated in the same fashion. Pinkie grinned a wide, happy grin, certainly oblivious to how absolutely moronic she now looked. As Twilight managed to gather her wits, she heard Rarity sigh again.

"Twilight, it's terrible! Can you believe it? It's simply _wonderful and thank you __**Starlight**__ for such a pleasant experience_." Rarity's expression shifted as the pony responsible for crimes of fashion stepped into the house. Starlight looked a little surprised, and Twilight switched on a happy face.

The blonde filly beamed. "What do you think, Twilight? Do you like their new 'dos?"

"Wow, Starlight. They certainly are...something."

"Yeah!" Pinkie chimed. "I _really really really _love mine! Oh, oh! Maybe you can do Twilight's before-oof!"

"Nope, I'm happy with the same boring, old style!" Twilight said quickly as Pinkie rubbed her ribs where Twilight had elbowed her.

"We have to get out of here!" Rarity hissed to Twilight once Starlight had left. Twilight gave a firm nod, complete with disapproving scowl.

"What darling little socks!" Rarity gushed as Melody's twin sisters came down the stairs. Their coats were sky blue, but, as Melody pointed out, Ting-a-ling had white hair and Jing-a-ling had yellow hair.

_At least they're easy to tell apart,_ Twilight thought. _But those names? Poor foals._

The white-haired twin wore a thick pair of socks on her front hooves, covered with prints of cute teddy bears. The yellow-haired twin wore the same socks but with bunnies instead of bears. They looked shyly at Rarity, smiling at the compliment.

"Ugh, that reminds me," Melody said impatiently. She looked at Sweetheart. "You wanna help me with the bandages?"

"I'll help, too," said Bright Eyes.

Twilight felt nervous pricks of ice in her stomach. Bandages? She looked at the fillies' hooves again – at the very thick socks on both of their front feet – and the realization hit her with a wave of nausea.

"I think we should get out of the room now," she whispered solemnly to her friends.

Everypony nodded, faces turning pale as they started to back out of the room. Fluttershy, frozen in her chair, let out a squealing whimper and tried to cover her face with her hooves. Twilight grabbed Fluttershy's tail in her teeth and started dragging her out of the room.

Twilight was only halfway there when the bandages came off. She didn't want to look. She didn't _want_ to look. But she had.

Ting-a-ling, the small filly who had been chosen first, whimpered quietly as Melody inspected her front hooves. The whole of the hoof was smashed to bits, as though somepony had taken a chisel and hammered it into the bottom of the filly's foot. Shards of hoof wall stuck out in all directions. A large red lump on one side revealed an infection. Blood had dried in the cracks of the break, and some of it chipped off on the floor as Ting-a-ling tried not to wrench her hoof away.

Melody merely rolled her eyes. "There's a shard. _Again_, Ting-a-ling?"

"I'll get the clippers," Bright Eyes said, as casually as though she was getting tea.

Twilight was unable to move. Her legs trembled, her knees on the verge of dropping her to the ground. Fluttershy's tail fell out of her mouth.

She didn't want to see this. She didn't want to see Bright Eyes appear again, carrying what looked like a sharp-tipped pair of pliers. She didn't want to see Ting-a-ling start to fuss and cry and struggle when Clover and Starlight stepped in to help hold her down.

In a momentary burst of consciousness, she snatched Fluttershy's tail and made a mad dash for the other room. She barely made it through the doorway before the sound of a sharp _clack_ echoed in her ears.

A wail, long and high-pitched. A filly's wail.

Twilight looked at her friends. Rarity was on the ground in shock. Dash and Applejack, both having seen their share of pain and injury, only pawed at the floor in silent sympathy. Pinkie was wide-eyed, her lower lip trembling. Fluttershy sat up. She was facing away from her friends, staring at the scene in the other room in a catatonic trance.

_She was facing the other way_! Twilight realized in horror. _She saw it...!_

But Fluttershy was not in the room in Melody's house. In her mind, Fluttershy was still a filly in Cloudsdale, long before her friendship with Rainbow Dash, coming back from a bad run of training, feeling especially bad the coach singled her out as the worst flier.

Fluttershy tried again and again to fly on her way home. She had to get better, to practice more, no matter how tired she was. Her wings were pumping their hardest, their fastest, and she knew she was no more than a few feet above the clouds.

She landed, tired wings giving out. She tried again after a rest, closing her eyes, focusing all of her energy on flight. She didn't see the hole in the cloudy walkway.

Pegasus ponies are not very heavy, and Fluttershy in particular was light. That, they said, was what saved her life that day. She had hit the mountain cliff on her back hooves, hitting a sharp rock in just such an unfortunate way that her left back hoof had been completely shattered. By the time they found her, about half an hour after her fall, her ankle was swollen to the size of a cantaloupe. Since she was a light pony, a pegasus pony, the damage was not severe. In fact, by the next month she was back in that dreadful flight class again, ridiculed this time for clumsiness.

The horrible feeling of the broken hoof – the shifting crunch when she tried to move it, the intense pain when she had tried to stand, the fear that nopony would find her alone on the side of a mountain – consumed her mind the moment that filly's hoof had been unwrapped. And so she stared, wide-eyed but vacant, as Melody cut the little shards from the filly's broken hoof. Fluttershy stared when medicine was put on the infected part. Stared as the hoof was re-bandaged, and the other filly was held down and unwrapped.

"I wanna go home!" Pinkie whined quietly.

"Why are they doin' this?" Applejack asked, her voice rough. "Cain't they just do it like normal? Why would they do this t'themselves?"

Twilight gulped, finding her throat dry, and searched for words. "This isn't our world. These ponies aren't like us at all. We...we know what we're seeing is wrong, but to them, it probably seems right. It's not our place to judge them or try to stop them." Twilight winced as the other filly started to cry. "Just hope that we'll get out of here soon."

Twilight realized she had grossly underestimated this place. It just seemed like a quiet town. It had stores, a school, a cafe, all the amenities of home. But this place – these ponies – were insane. Under what logic would a pony purposefully mutilate themselves? To move their hooves? A small matter of convenience?

Fluttershy let out a sharp gasp, snapping Twilight back to the present. The six looked anxiously into the other room as Clover pulled one of the twins' socks over her front hoof.

"Don't cry, girls! Look what you'll be able to do once you're all healed!"

Her hoof bent in half, creating a 'mouth' for the sock. She started to mimic a voice, talking to the girls with the puppet. Understandably horrified, the fillies only wailed louder.

Twilight could spot the exact moment Fluttershy snapped. The light seemed to go out of her eyes. She ran up to Clover, snatched the sock in her teeth, and bolted for the door.

"After her!" Twilight yelped, springing for the exit.

Fluttershy knew she was moving, but she wasn't sure where or even what direction. Left, right, up, down, they all felt the same now. Running. Falling...was she falling? Falling through the clouds. Falling, falling, falling on the rocks, crashing, shattered, pain, pain they'll never find me why can't I fly like the others why how will they find me here alone all alone and the crunch dont move it hurts worse when it moves how will they find me it hurts it feels hot and stiff and I cant move it but it crunches mommy please come get me I dont want to fly any more I dont want to be in coachs class anymore why their hooves why I didnt get a choice I didnt choose they fell too and now theyll never be able to fly their hooves their hooves shattered they fell I fell im falling falling falling...

Fluttershy cried out, dropping the sock as a blast of light stopped her in her tracks. For a moment, she just stared at the portal swirling in front of her. She thought she heard Twilight call her name. That wasn't important. The only important thing was getting away from the crunchy hooves and pain.

_I didn't know she could run this fast!_ Twilight barely spotted Fluttershy disappearing behind a row of bushes in the park not far from where they had arrived. Turning a corner, Twilight saw Fluttershy's flank vanish through the swirling vortex.

"The portal! Get through!" she yelled to the ponies following her. One by one, they disappeared through the dark, cloudy void.

A thought struck her, and Twilight grabbed the teddy bear sock in her mouth. Nopony ever needed to see this world again, especially a pony from Equestria. Twilight gave a last look at the wretched place, snorting angrily at the silhouettes of seven approaching fillies before she jumped through the portal, sealing off Coltonville forever.


	7. Part 3: A Pony and a Pundit

A Pony and a Pundit

There was a splash of cold water as Twilight landed on a pile of wet and struggling ponies. The pool wasn't very big or deep, but the cool air of sundown made the water frigid. Twilight managed to get on her hooves before the others. Pinkie Pie's green mohawk had dissipated, her hair now limp and clinging to her neck. The green dye ran down her face and body, and the pink pony's face gave a look of disappointment.

"Aww, man! I wanted to keep that!"

Rarity, on the other hoof, was overjoyed. "The perm washed out! _The perm washed out!_" She giggled, flipping her wet hair back and forth, unwittingly spraying water on Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who both let out annoyed grunts. Twilight scanned the water for Fluttershy, but saw only four other ponies.

"Hello," cooed a friendly and unfamiliar voice from beyond the pool's edge. Twilight looked over to see – as well as she could in the fading light – a purple pony with dark hair. She stood on a balcony overlooking the pool. She nudged something into the pool: a small ladder.

"Did you see our friend come through?" Twilight asked as the purple pony handed her a towel. "She's a yellow-"

"Pegasus, I know. She's inside, drying off and trying to relax, poor thing. I'm not sure what exactly got her so wound up – well, I suppose appearing out of thin air and landing goodness-knows-where could have something to do with it. At any rate, you are all welcome to join her and myself for a little tea. Or a lot of tea. Who knows?" She gave a lilting laugh, and from the sound of her voice Twilight could tell that she was older or at least more mature than any of Twilight's friends. She waved them into a little hut lit by several small paper lanterns.

"I'm Kimono," she said after handing them all cups of warm liquid. Twilight smelled hers; it smelled faintly of sweet dried hay. She was about to respond to the introduction when Kimono waved a hoof passively. "No, no; don't tell me any of your names. Not until we clarify some things first."

Fluttershy had joined them in a circle on the floor, still a little shaken. She apologized quietly to Twilight for running off, and Twilight simply smiled as though she understood what had happened.

"Well," Twilight started, "you really don't seem that surprised that we just appeared in your pond."

"I suppose I'm pretty open-minded," Kimono answered after a pause. "Weird things do happen around here most of the time."

"Speakin' a' which," said Applejack, asking what Twilight could not since her mouth was full of tea, "where are we?"

"Why, you are in Ponyville."

Tea sprayed across the room from at least three directions, followed by profuse apologies.

"Am I correct in assuming that you, too, are from Ponyville?" Kimono wiped her face with a napkin, seemingly unaffected by the reactions. Twilight simply nodded, gulping down the rest of her tea. "Then it seems there is a genuine reason for me _not_ to know your names."

"Why is that?" asked Rarity, refilling her cup. Kimono watched, mesmerized by unicorn telepathy. She snapped back to attention, nearly forgetting the question.

"If you've arrived by portal, there are a number of reasons. One – you might be in the past. Two – the future. Three – some alternate universe. In any circumstance, it would not be beneficial for you to meet your double. Theoretically, anyway."

"There's that word again," Applejack huffed in annoyance.

"How're you so sure we're not from here?" Rainbow Dash said.

"I've never seen you before. And you're not fat like a honeybee in spring. You'll see what I mean later."

"How do you know about portals?" Twilight finally asked, having straightened her cup and cleaned up her mess.

"Why, there's one at the edge of town! Don't get excited – it doesn't lead to any other dimension. Just to a little nearby island full of pegasi. But I've been researching this portal, and I think I've come up with some pretty impressive ideas about portals in general. I never thought I'd actually use that information. How fortunate that you've landed at _my_ door!"

"Can you tell us what you've found?" prompted Twilight.

"Later," Kimono said, noticing some faces immediately shift into 'bored' mode. "There will be plenty of time tomorrow. I can only imagine the kind of day you've had. You can all stay here, of course, and I'll make something to eat for you. In exchange, I'd love to know all about the adventures you've had!"

Kimono prepared a salad of bitter greens, pickled radish, and dried hay, which was substantially more delicious than it sounded, and she listened to Twilight's tale as the others ate. Still preserving their identities at Kimono's request, Twilight explained all that they had been through – the portal, meeting Wind Whistler and the others, her confrontation with Megan, the Rainbow of Light, and then onward describing the strange-hoofed ponies, the balloon ride and the ponies who lived in exile, and finally how Fluttershy had freaked out at the sight of the young filly's hooves.

Kimono nodded, remaining silent after Twilight had finished. Aware of how silly the story might've sounded, Twilight took a nervous sip of tea.

"I don't think I would've believed you," Kimono said, "if I hadn't seen you appear with my own eyes. It's a fantastic tale, to be sure, but I have no other choice but to believe what I've heard."

"I'd have a hard time believing it myself," Twilight admitted. "I should've just left the portal alone."

"But you wouldn't have learned anything. Oh, let me go prepare some futons for you." Kimono gathered up dishes of those who had finished.

"What do you think?" Twilight asked lowly after Kimono had left.

"Seems nice 'nough. Then 'gain, so did them other ponies."

"She seems like a normal pony," added Rarity.

"I like her," said Pinkie.

"I'm curious to find out what she knows about portals. I know, I know, it's boring." Twilight rolled her eyes in response to all the huffs. "But if she can help us get out of here, it's worth it."

"There we are!" Kimono sang, announcing her return. "Second room on the right, a futon for each of you. Introductions and stories tomorrow."

Twilight had a vague inclination what a futon was; she had heard tales from far-off countries where ponies slept on thick mattresses instead of normal beds. It may have been the previous events of the day or her own waning sense of surprise at every turn, but as soon as she flopped on the mattress, she let out a long, relaxed moan.

"What?" she grumbled at her friends, who were staring. "It's comfy, okay?"

Pinkie jumped on hers then gave a look of disappointment when it turned she couldn't bounce on it. Shrugging, she flipped on her side and rolled around like a dog in a patch of clover, making a little indention. Everypony else also lay down, and they had to agree with Twilight that the futons were rather comfortable, even though they were still basically sleeping on the floor. The lights were dimmed, and silence fell over the six.

As tired as she had been the other night, Twilight found herself restless tonight. She had never been away from home and certainly never far apart from Spike for such a long time before. She wondered if he was panicking, sending frantic letters to Celestia, running around in circles in utter confusion. And what of Celestia? Surely two days of no letters would be a sign something was wrong. But how could Celestia ever find her? Pinkie was still wearing the fang necklace they'd used as a key. Nopony knew where they were. Unless Celestia's powers were far greater than what Twilight realized, there was no way the Princess could reach them. Twilight regretted ever finding that stupid necklace.

_But you wouldn't have learned anything_. Kimono's words echoed in her head. Learned? What exactly had she learned? That she was a foolish pony that should really look before she leapt? That her insistence on keeping out of everypony's business had resulted in a brief but poignant civil war? That other ponies crushed their own hooves in order to manipulate objects?

Twilight sighed bitterly, looking into the darkness at the quiet forms of her friends. No, there was something more. Applejack was eager to instill a work ethic into ponies who were otherwise lazy. She, as the Element of Honesty, could also be prompted to lie if the situation required. Rainbow Dash had achieved yet another Rainboom, this time as a symbol of the power ponies possessed. Twilight had underestimated her own abilities and the abilities of her friends. Compared to those fat, lazy ponies at Paradise Estates, Equestrians were titans, creatures of nigh-godlike ability.

The ponies of Coltonville were strange but also very mundane. They possessed no magic, no special skills. They knew nothing outside of that Wall around their cities, nothing of pegasi and unicorns, save what Patch had seen. They might have been composed of tougher stuff, but at the end of the day, what did that mean? They had no lofty goals, no sense of advancement. Inside the Wall, they were stagnant, doomed for a life of eternal banality. Unacceptable, by Twilight's standards!

Twilight raised her head, still staring into the darkness. Perhaps she _had_ learned something after all.

"Twi?" whispered Applejack, invisible in the dark, "you still awake?"

"I was just thinking. We're...kind of impressive compared to all those other ponies we've seen. I mean, nopony we've seen studies magic. I don't think I'd be happy if I couldn't perform my tricks."

"Heh, Ah was jes' thinkin' the same thing. Know what Ah wanna do firs' thing when Ah get home, Twi? Ah'm gonna find the biggest, most ornery apple tree in th' whole orchard and applebuck it 'til even th' leaves fall off."

Twilight chuckled. It was an odd analogy, but she understood. Even simple things would be enjoyable if – no, _when_ – they returned.

"When we get back," said Rainbow Dash's voice, sleepy but inspired, "I'm gonna go up to the Wonderbolts and demand an audition. After puttin' up with all these creepy ponies and their weird stuff, I won't even care if the 'bolts say 'no.' I'll still know I'm the best pegasus across three dimensions."

"I'm going to find that Blueblood and give him a Coltonville-style 'makeover'," said Rarity.

"I think I'm going to try to explore the Everfree Forest, just a little," sighed Fluttershy. "I was so scared, going into another dimension all by myself. But I survived, didn't I?"

"It was very brave of you, Fluttershy," Twilight said and meant it. "What about you, Pinkie?"

A loud snort responded, and everypony jumped. Pinkie snored again, exhaling with a small, squeaky whinny. Soft laughter covered the darkness.

They awoke the next morning to an odd but not unpleasant smell. Kimono had set out bowls for each of them, crowning the table with a large bowl of white, lumpy-looking soup. As they sat down next to a bowl, Kimono emerged from the kitchen, balancing another bowl on her head.

"I didn't know what you'd like for breakfast," she said, setting the other bowl on the table. "The white stuff is rice porridge. This is just oatmeal. If you'd like something else, just let me know."

Pinkie took a few bites of the rice porridge and made a face. She didn't spit it out – Granny Pie always said spitting out somepony else's food was the baddest of all bad manners! - but she quickly opted for oatmeal instead. Not that oatmeal was any better.

Twilight, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoyed the rice porridge. It was savory and very unique compared to all the sweet breakfast foods she was accustomed to eating.

"This is incredible!" she said, starting a second bowl. Kimono smiled.

"My mother was from Neighpon. My father fell in love with her cooking, and, well, here I am, cooking her recipes. Good thing, too. I don't think I could survive living in town."

"Why _do _you live on the edge of town?"

Kimono paused, a look of discomfort covering her face. "Well, the ponies here...they're nice enough, believe me. Not like those other ponies you've told me about. They're nice, yes, but just a bit...sweet. And sometimes more than a little frustrating. But nice ponies, nonetheless."

Twilight looked at her warily, and Kimono's smile grew a little more forced.

"We-well, a-anyway, shall we talk momentarily about portals?"

"Go on." Twilight raised a brow.

"Well, the portal to Butterfly Island is a bit of an anomaly. It's located at the edge of a cliff, and it used to be that only one pony, Skywishes, could activate it. Recently, however, it only needs a pony to be present. A swarm of butterflies appears, and the portal activates. The island itself is very, _very_ far from here, but it still exists on this dimension.

"The key to return is different. An earth pony and a pegasus must stand together on a specific point in order for the portal to appear. Again, only Skywishes and Star Catcher could open the portal, but it seems to have changed."

"So portals can change at any time?"

"Requirements for portals can change. Well, keep in mind this is all theory. There's only _one_ portal, after all. The other three portals you described gave me some ideas, also. That fang was the first key – or perhaps it was you holding up the fang. That could explain why Miss Fluttershy ended up in a different portal. The fang was a key, but you weren't there to hold it up.

"Now, the second key was a lot like the Butterfly Island key. It was created by a third party and not strictly a key. The Rainbow of Light you described acted like a sentient being, so it was probably not just the heart locket that was the key.

"The third key – that's the puzzle! That sock is neither a magical item nor is it sentient. However, I've thought of a couple theories. You said that sock was from a filly, right? And the dimension you entered was devoid of magic? Well, they say foals' hearts are full of the magic of imagination."

"That's kind of far-fetched," Twilight said. She looked over at Fluttershy, who was licking oatmeal off of her muzzle. "Could Fluttershy have been the key?"

"Perhaps." Kimono rubbed her chin. "That was another theory of mine. But it could've been anything from her presence to her feathers to what she ate that day."

Twilight bit her lip. "So, essentially, you're saying the portal here..."

"...could be anywhere, and could be triggered by any single tiny thing in the world." Kimono smiled sadly. "I wish I had better news. However, luck seems to be on your side. Maybe there's something in town that can help you."

_Oh, great,_ Twilight thought sullenly. _Here we go again_. _Not only do we have to find the needle, we have to find the haystack._

Kimono ignored Twilight's eyeroll. "Before you go, let's discuss names. Since this Ponyville is not your Ponyville – and I'm assuming this is another dimension and not the past or anything weird like that – there are likely to be ponies who share your names." She looked at Pinkie Pie. "I know for certain that there's a pony that looks exactly like you. You," she pointed a hoof at Rainbow Dash, "look like a certain pony, but your Mark's different and you sure as sugar don't act like her."

"I still don't understand why we have to hide our names," said Rarity. "So two ponies have the same name. It's not like it hasn't happened before."

"For one thing," Twilight said, "it's a lot easier to keep track of who's who. Second, imagine somepony walked into Carousel and said that they were you. Either you or she would have some sort of identity crisis. Not to mention that if this _is_ the past or future, we could seriously screw up some major historical parts. I'm sure I don't want to be deleted from history, and I'm pretty sure Kimono doesn't, either."

"Let's begin," said Kimono, looking at Twilight. "What's your fake name?"

"Twilight Twinkle."

"No good," the purple pony shook her head. "She runs the planetarium."

Twilight let out a soft gasp. "We should _so_ get a planetarium! Well, how about Twilight...um..."

"How about just 'Twilight'?"

"Oh. Okay." Twilight blinked, still on the idea of a planetarium. Kimono turned to Rainbow Dash.

"You now."

"Rainbow Flash!" she said proudly.

"Photographer, works for the paper."

"Are you serious? Ugh, Rainbow Dash, then."

Applejack started to say something, but she was nudged into silence by Rarity.

"Runs the salon."

"_Salon_!" Dash's mane bristled. "What the hay? Okay, okay, let's go with...with..."

"How about Prism?"

Dash paused, considering. She smirked, nodding. "Yeah. Yeah, that's a cool name. I like that."

"I wanna be Surprise this time!" said Pinkie, bouncing up and down. "It sounds all partyish and I can go like 'SURPRISE! SURPRISE!' when ponies ask me my name and – ohhh, I should change my _real_ name to that! Only my mama worked really hard on my name and I don't wanna hurt her feelings by changing it so I think I'll stay with my real name only not right now 'cause I wanna be called 'Surprise' right now!"

She grinned, leaning into Kimono's face with complete disregard of personal space. Kimono grinned nervously and stepped back a pace. "You got it, kid. How about you?"

Rarity thought for a moment. "Twilight selected 'Rhinestone' for me last time. I didn't really get a chance to use it all that much, and it's quite a clever name. Is that okay?"

"Fine by me."

"Been 'Apple Bloom' twice now," drawled Applejack.

"Third time's a charm. What about you, sweetheart?" Her voice calmed as she directed her question at Fluttershy.

"I-I liked the name 'Flutterheart,' but I don't think I can stand to hear it again. Twilight, what did you call me when we met up in Coltonville?"

"Posey," Twilight recalled.

"Then I wanna be called 'Posey,' i-if that's okay."

"That's perfect," Kimono smiled warmly. "Now, my advice: go to Sweetberry's cafe first. Most likely everypony will be there at once. Oh, and good luck. Hopefully, you'll find what you're looking for right away."

_If only we were _that _lucky..._


	8. Part 3: A Pony and a Princess

A Pony and a Portal Chapter 8

A Pony and a Princess

"Where should we begin?" Twilight said, certainly overwhelmed by the sight before her. This Ponyville looked almost identical to the Ponyville she had come to admire. Sure, the parks were bigger and White-Tail Woods was sort of encroaching on the town border and Sweet Apple Acres and its rolling hills full of apple trees was nowhere in sight, but she could tell that, structurally, it was the same Ponyville. It meant lots of little shops and houses, countless ponies to ask, and absolutely no place to start. Twilight was about to say something when she heard her own name.

Kimono came up at a full gallop, turning the heads of a few ponies roaming the park. It was at that moment that Twilight noticed a distinctive difference between Kimono and the Ponyville citizens. Kimono was larger than Twilight, to be certain, but she was lean and muscular. Even as she slowed to a stop, she wasn't out of breath. The others in the park were fatter – substantially fatter – and seemed, even in normal activities, to breathe as though they'd been running. Their colors were duller and unhappy; in general, save for Kimono, they were all unhealthy.

"Did you hear me?" Kimono said, tilting her head quizzically.

"Uh, what? Sorry, no." Twilight snapped back to attention.

"I've only just remembered: sometimes, in the morning, a light comes from the top of that mountain over there." She motioned to a large, black rock in the distance. Twilight recognized it as the cave where a giant red dragon had almost taken up residence – almost, if not for Fluttershy's insistence that he relocate. "In retrospect, it may hold a clue to your portal. Just a theory, mind you."

"Thanks! I'll check it out."

Kimono grinned and galloped off. The ponies in the park whispered anxiously to each other, as though Kimono's presence was the start of juicy gossip. Twilight turned to her friends.

"Let's split up. I'll take the mountain. I don't think anything dangerous would be up there, otherwise it would've done something to the town by now. I'm not sure these ponies are up for much fighting or running away."

"I'd like to see where my Boutique is," said Rarity. "So I'll take the east side of the town."

"Can I come, too?" said Pinkie, and Rarity nodded her approval.

"Flutts and I will check the west side, then," said Rainbow Dash. "I wanna see what your library looks like."

"Ah think y'all know what Ah wanna go see." Applejack looked worriedly in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, and Twilight nodded sagely.

"When you're all finished, let's meet on the mountain. If I'm done first, I'll see you all at the foot. If I run into trouble, I'll send up a flare."

They all nodded and ran off, eager to find the juxtaposition of their most familiar places.

"Oh my," Rarity said, staring at where her lovely Carousel Boutique ought to be, "this doesn't seem right at all."

In place of the dress shop was a large cafe, larger even than Sugarcube Corner. The place was packed, so much so that Rarity and Pinkie could only peek in through the windows.

"Seems kinda right to me," said Pinkie, "since we passed four or five cafes on the way here. And then there was that sweet shop, and the bakery, and an ice cream parlor, and -"

"Well, yes, I get _that_," Rarity hastily interrupted, "but this? In place of my Boutique?"

Pinkie looked above the door at a purple-pink sign, pointing at it with a sock-covered hoof. "Oh! This is Sweetberry's Cafe! Kimono said we should look here first, anyway. Kinda convenient, huh?"

"I suppose," Rarity said, cringing, "but _must_ you insist on wearing that horrible thing?"

Pinkie Pie looked at her hoof, the sock adorned with cute little teddy bears. She had found it floating in the small pond this morning, and, true to her chaotic nature, picked it up and put it on without hardly anypony noticing. "I really really think this's gonna come in handy. I don't wanna lose it, that's all."

Looking in, they were able to see what all the fuss was. A small, pink unicorn was in the middle of the room, her face shoved deep in a whole cake. Frosting covered her chromatically-rainbowed hair, her hooves, and even her Mark, which was a heart with a green and yellow swirl around it.

Rarity gave a short shriek, pulling away from the window with such force that she fell over backwards. Pinkie huffed, giving the scene a condescending look.

"I _know_! That is a _way_ unbalanced cake-to-frosting ratio! Everypony knows it's sixty percent cake, forty percent frosting! Otherwise, you get all sugar and gritty and blarg!"

Rarity stared at her from the ground, a cynical look on her face. Pinkie shrugged.

"It might not last forever, but a cake's still a form of art!"

"I can't disagree with that," Rarity said, righting herself and shaking off the dust, "but I wasn't referring to the cake." She slid up to the window again, peeking in so only her horn and ears could be seen from the other side. "That filly, the unicorn? Now, you're going to think this is strange, but she is my great-great-great-great-great aunt!"

Pinkie looked from Rarity to the scene inside, back to Rarity, back to the filly inside, back to Rarity, back to the frosting-covered unicorn inside, back to her unicorn friend outside, and finally said, "She doesn't look _that_ great."

Rarity groaned, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. "At any rate, we should meet back up with Twilight. I'm sure she'd want to know about this."

"And that other pony, too," added Pinkie.

"What other pony?"

"The one that looks like me, right there!" Pinkie pointed inside the cafe, and sure enough there was a pink pony with pink hair and blue eyes and three balloons on her flank. She was surrounded by pink – pink hat, pink cup, pink plate, pink chair, even her cake was pink.

"Think she likes pink?" Rarity said flatly.

Pinkie wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, that's too much pink, even for me."

..._too much pink...too much pink...too much pink..._

The earth pony's words somehow, through the chaos and laughter in the cafe, reached the ears of her doppelganger inside. The fat Pinkie Pie-alike snapped her head toward the window, a glare on her face to put Fluttershy's Stare to shame. Blue eyes, squished into her corpulent face, seemed to gaze directly into their _souls_.

Pinkie and Rarity both shrieked, dashing off as fast as possible towards the mountain in the distance.

"Weird," said Rainbow Dash, and beside her Fluttershy nodded.

They were looking at Twilight's library – or where it would have been. No ancient tree stood here, no books or scrolls to be found. Instead, it was a large, square, gaudy yellow building with large square windows in front. Something about it insisted some sort of modern look, but it seemed forced. It also appeared to be a photographer's. The sign above the door read "POSER'S Photos by Fluttershy"

"Posers? Never saw a more accurate sign in my life," Rainbow Dash huffed.

"Should we go in?" Fluttershy hesitated, remembering her last run-in with photographers. Dash, also remembering, scowled.

"Well...hey, don't forget we're lookin' for some kinda magic object or somethin'. Guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out. Then we'll go back to that deep-fried chocolate-covered donut shop. Those looked kinda good."

They walked in, welcomed by the fast clicks of a camera accompanied with flashes of bright light. A blue earth pony stood on an upraised stage. She wore a broad black sunhat and a large, rainbow-colored boa. Her hooves were bedecked with sheer leggings and tiny black slippers. A yellow pony with four different shades of pink in her mane was snapping pictures of her, moving about the stage as the blue pony assumed different poses. The two ponies seemed to take no notice of them, too wrapped up in their art.

"Oh yeah, Rainbow Dash! Just like that!" The photographer pony squealed delightfully.

"Rainbow...Dash? Ugh!" A look of disgust came over the blue pegasus's face. Fluttershy chuckled quietly, eliciting a stern look. "Guess it's undercover time, Posey."

"Sure thing, Prism," she said, unable to control her giggles.

"Just like that!" the camerapony repeated, raising her camera. "Now, toss it over your shoulder – good! Now, around to the other side! Show me that flank! Yeah, Dashie! Give it to the camera – give it! Turn, the other side! Smile! Now pout, show me some lip!"

"Should we be seeing this?" Prism coughed.

"Wow, Photo Finish was never _that_ demanding." Posey pawed at the floor. "She just kinda...took pictures."

Finally, the blue pony raised a hoof. "That's enough for today, Fluttershy, darling!"

Posey, wincing at her name, quickly realized she'd meant the photographer.

"The camera absolutely _loves_ you, Dashie," the yellow pony cooed, tucking away her camera.

"Well, of course, darling!" said the blue pony, tossing her boa off to the side. "I am absolutely dashing, after all! And your eye for beauty makes all of my photos fantastic!"

And then they started kissing.

Prism and Posey could only stand and stare, mouths agape, as their alternate selves locked lips. Posey cleared her throat, motioning with her head at Prism's fully outstretched wings.

Prism glared at her as her wings slid down to their original position. "It doesn't mean what they _say_ it means, ya know."

"O-okay," Posey chirped, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. She hid a blush behind her pink hair. Prism rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash started nuzzling each other and giggling girlishly. Fluttershy held out her camera. "Let's go in the back and..._develop_ some of these pictures."

Giggling, focused on only each other, they walked into the back. The two pegasi were left alone in the storefront, still aghast and puzzled. After a moment, Prism headed for the door.

"Let's go check out that donut shop," she sighed. "I don't see _how_ these guys get any business. I mean, who's watching the store?"

Applejack was troubled. Fields of rolling hills stretched out before her, all as familiar as the back of her hoof. She saw where Bloomberg's hill should be, the large hill where the barn once lay, and the flat stretch that held the house proper. Like ghosts, she saw their outlines, their shadows, but knew it was only her imagination. This was not Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn't Sweet Apple anything.

The old feelings started to resurface, and once again she began to miss her home. Granny Smith would probably be worried sick by now. She could almost hear Big Macintosh's stern voice about how she shouldn't listen to Twilight when Twilight said foalish things like "Let's go jump in a portal and see how much trouble we can get into". She could see Apple Bloom running in and out of the trees, frustrated at her lack of Cutie Mark but still happy to be a filly with her whole life before her. But when she looked again, there was nopony there. There was nothing in these hills but twisted old elms and a high stake of grass here and there.

Applejack took in a large breath, even more disappointed that the air no longer smelled or tasted of sweet, ripe apples. She let out a heavy, homesick sigh.

"Beautiful, ain't it? Always takes mah breath away, too!"

Confused, she looked up to find a mare standing next to her. The mare reminded her somewhat of cousin Braeburn: she had a golden-yellow coat with orange-and-yellow-striped hair. Her eyes were a bright, intelligent green. Applejack caught a glimpse of her Mark, a wheat sheaf with orange and brown leaves at its base. A red bandanna adorned her neck, and a piece of wheatgrass hung out of her mouth. She was grinning happily at Applejack.

"How do? Ah'm Harvest Crisp!" She held out a hoof, and Applejack shook it.

"Apple Bloom," she answered, still hints of confusion in her voice.

"See all'a this land, here? Ah'm hopin' ta get it fer mah own." Harvest Crisp took a deep whiff of the air. "Ah'm gonna build me a farm, jes' like the one mah pappy had back in Hoofston!"

"Farm sounds like a fine idea. Perfect land for it." Applejack tried to hide the forlorn tone in her voice.

"Ayup. Only one problem, though. Ponies 'round here don't 'preciate the taste 'a home-grown fruits and veggies. Want ever'thin' sweet and sugary. Ain't no sense in that! Ponies ain't s'posta eat nuthin' but sugar! Still, Ah gotta get 'em ta sign this petition afore Ah kin own this land. Ain't got nopony's signature asides ol' Kimono."

Applejack tipped her hat. "Shoot, Ah'll sign. Shame ta see all this good farmland go unused!"

Harvest Crisp pulled a paper and pencil out of a fold of her bandanna. Applejack signed, noting Kimono's beautifully calligraphied signature above hers. There was still a lot of room on the paper. The pencil still in her teeth, Applejack looked up. Harvest Crisp was looking longingly out on the land, wishfulness in her smart green eyes. Quickly, Applejack scribbled the fake names of her friends as well. They probably wouldn't run into this pony, but Applejack knew they'd sign if they'd had the chance.

Five more names didn't seem a lot on the large paper. Applejack handed back the pencil and paper and thought. An idea struck her, and she said, "Say, ya'll said ponies 'round here don't like nuthin' but sweets?"

"Ayup, stuck like a fly to honey on cakes and pies."

"Well, why not tell 'em you'll grow stuff ta make pies an' candy for 'em?"

Harvest Crisp looked confused. As vague with names as possible, Applejack related the tale of the Appleoosans and the Buffalo, mentioning specifically the Buffalo's love for apple pies. Harvest's eyes lit up, and she stomped the ground with a whoop and a smile.

"Boy howdy, yer right! Lure 'em in with tasty sweets – grow a little veggies on the side. Somepony's bound ta try some greenstuff someday, right?"

"Ah know ya'll can make this land a great farm. They gotta sign after ya appeal ta their sweet tooth!"

"Why, thank ya, Apple Bloom! If'n there's anything Ah kin ever do fer ya, jes' lemme know!"

"Actually, Ah do have a question. Ya'll know anything 'bout portals?"

Harvest ruminated for a moment. "'Sides the one t'Butterfly Island?"

"We need a portal someplace else. Or anythin' 'round here that's got some kinda magic on it? Know anythin' like that?"

The golden pony shook her head. "Sorry, sugarcube. Ain't nuthin' like that 'round here. A'course, if there were some unicorns 'round, they could tell ya 'bout magic. But ain't none here, jes' earth ponies."

Applejack nodded slowly. Harvest apologized, thanked her again, and ran off to get more signatures, leaving Applejack alone in an empty field. The farmpony sighed again and trudged off, hooves dragging, toward the black mountain in the distance. Hopefully somepony else had found something. Applejack looked out across the fields, the flat land where her house would have stood.

So close to home, yet so far away...

The mountain was amazingly easier to climb without her friends. Most of the ascent was Twilight's ability to magically jump through space in an eyeblink, an ability she'd since called 'winking.' It was good practice, too, since the spell left her a little disoriented when she landed. Soon, she was at a wide ledge leading to a large cave, the same cave the red dragon had made his roost.

She poked her head into the darkness, sniffing, listening for any sign of an enemy. Everything appeared normal. She stepped in, slowly exploring, allowing her eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness. A few steps inward, she saw a large white object on the floor of the cave. She warily approached it, any second ready to bolt like mad-fire out of the cave. She listened; it was breathing. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she saw, on the ground before her...

"P-Princess Celestia?"

The white figure stirred, groaned. Her head tilted upwards to look at the intruder. She started in a gritty voice, a voice that had not been used for some time, "Princess. A title I have not heard in centuries, and a title I no longer deserve."

Twilight dropped to her knees. She inspected the figure before her. Yes, it was certainly the princess, but nearly everything about her was out of place. She wore no crown, no breastplate, no sabatons. Her mane and tail, generally full of life and sparkling with magic, were gray and dull, laying as listlessly as the princess herself on the cave floor.

"Princess, what are you doing here? When did you get here?"

The princess's head shifted slowly, subtly, across the floor, looking instead at some darkened corner of the cave. Twilight tried to follow her gaze but saw nothing in the dark.

"I have been here for centuries now, waiting out my years..." Her voice faded out, and the silence gave Twilight cause for alarm. After a moment, however, Celestia spoke again. "Would you hear my story, little one? Perhaps knowing, you can help her."

_This isn't my Celestia,_ Twilight thought. _This is just an alternate universe that just happens to have Celestia in it. She's real, but she...she doesn't know me. I'm not her student here._

"Please tell me, Princess."

The princess gave a sigh, rousing up some dust. "She and I, we were sisters. She was in charge of protecting the night, and I the day. At first we did our work in secrecy, hiding ourselves from the ponies who might see us in fear they may envy our power and abilities."

There was a long silence, so Twilight spoke: "But I thought you raised the sun, and she raised-"

"A pony cannot raise the sun, child," Celestia interrupted, her voice stern, "not even with all the magic in the world. The sun and moon rise and fall of their own accord. My sister and I merely protected those living in night and day."

Twilight sat back, her head spinning. Celestia...didn't raise the sun? The Summer Sun Celebration – the very thing that inspired Twilight to learn magic at all – that was a lie? No. No, this wasn't _her_ Celestia. This was...it was just a different dimension, that's all. Celestia still raised the sun from the eastern balcony in Canterlot. Twilight had witnessed it herself, many times. Still, there was doubt...no. No! There is no doubt!

She struggled to push her inner monologue away, realizing Celestia was speaking again.

"...on for some time, thousands of years, in fact. One day, I was bored of watching the ponies. They were safe enough in the daytime, when the wolves and beasts stayed asleep. I decided to do something special for her, since she worked so hard during the night. I arranged the clouds against the setting sun, making a design for her. I roused her early so she would not miss it. She was so happy with my gift that she shed tears. Imagine. A simple gift like that making her happy."

Twilight watched two streaks wash the dust from Celestia's cheeks. The princess set her head back on the floor.

"The next-" Celestia's voice broke, and she took a moment to adjust. "The next morning, she woke me early. She showed me – oh, it was so beautiful, her sunrise. She had repaid my gift with one eternally finer. She was an artist with the clouds, and I could not control my own tears at her beautiful gift. We went on like this for some time, she, creating a glorious sunrise; I, striving my best at a sunset.

Celestia's voice took a harsh turn. "I should have known better. I was the eldest; I should have protected her better. It was only a matter of time before we were noticed by the ponies we protected, and, seeing us manipulate the clouds, they assumed she raised the moon and I raised the sun. They started calling us goddesses. I should have stopped it there. I should have told them the truth. But I was just a filly, a stupid, selfish filly that wanted recognition for my work. I never worked as hard as she did. I only protected the day.

"The night was different. Wolves, dragons, plagues, demons – she fought them all. She was tough and unyielding, and she loved her ponies more than a mother loves her foal. Thanks to her, they never saw a wolf or dragon, sleeping peacefully as she fought them every night. They never recognized her deeds or praised her."

Again, Celestia turned to look into the darkened corner. Twilight again followed her gaze but saw nothing.

"She became tired, and soon it was easy for wolves to slip past her. The ponies were never harmed – she would die before that happened – but now they knew the night held danger and fear. They equated her to those dangers, stupidly believing that she was causing the attacks rather than holding them at bay. I should've stepped in, corrected them. But they came to me, asking for longer days which, of course, I could not provide. The middle of winter, the shortest day, soon became a cursed day in her name. They held me in higher position, calling to me to bring an end to winter and destroy my sister so no winter would come again.

"This angered her, an understandable anger. All alone at night, driving off the predators of your beloveds, and now they vilify you and ask for your demise? I tried to speak to her, but by then it was too late. She had turned, somehow, as though something took her over. She attacked me..."

Celesta groaned, struggling to pull herself up on legs that had not seen motion in years. She managed to prop herself up on her elbows, and Twilight could clearly see, on her chest where her breastplate had always sat, the large and deep scar of a unicorn's horn, pink and bare on her white-furred chest. Unable to keep herself up, Celestia collapsed with a pained gasp.

"What I did was unforgivable. I panicked. She had threatened to hurt her ponies, and I knew she would never, ever do that. She was no longer my sister. She was something else entirely."

"You trapped her in the moon," Twilight said softly. This earned a scowl from the princess, who snapped in reply.

"As a pony cannot raise the moon or sun neither can a pony live on the moon! The moon is cold and airless; even a pony such as I cannot stay on the moon's surface for more than an instant before meeting my end! Who tells you such tales? The ridiculousness of foals!"

Twilight, embarrassed, shut her mouth and frowned. Celestia continued.

"She is entrapped within a dimension in a ruin not far from here. Six keys have been trapped with her in the dimension, ensuring she is trapped eternally. Some days I try out my magic in hopes I can dispel the void in which I have placed her, but it does no good. She will never again be free. Never. And it is all because of my impertinence. So as she is forever imprisoned, I have imprisoned myself here. I will not leave this place until I see my end of days or until she is freed. But even so...even if she were freed, that horrible beast is still within her. Her freedom means the end of our world."

Twilight was afraid to speak again in fear that Celestia would snap at her. She heard noises behind her and realized that her friends were approaching. They must have finished their searches.

"But what about the Elements of Harmony?" Twilight found herself saying.

Celestia opened her mouth, a stern look on her face, then paused. She shut her mouth, her face relaxing. She looked at the pony before her and then at the ponies at the mouth of the cave. Six of them. Six keys.

"The Elements of Harmony," Celestia repeated. "Of course! The Rainbow of Light! But how did you know about them?"

"Let's just say I've had a lot of experience with them recently." She looked out at her friends, smiling. Turning back to Celestia, she said, "The ponies here need you. You're their Princess, and they still need your guidance and protection. Those ponies down there don't look like they could escape a wolf – they're all fat and lazy. They need your help."

"Perhaps," Celestia said, and Twilight swore she saw a shade of color back in Celestia's mane. "Perhaps I can return to them. Perhaps I can even find the Elements and free my sister. But not now. I'm still...fighting myself."

A third time, Celestia looked in the dark corner. Twilight finally saw it – a small pillar upon which rested a crown of onyx and dark crystals. The crown was upright, placed on a pillow, the utmost care and respect taken with its placement. On the floor next to it was a golden crown, tarnished and dirty, on its side as though it had been thrown there in anger.

"Don't worry, Princess," Twilight comforted. "I know Princess Luna will be free soon."

Celestia gave her a confused look. "Luna? Little one, my sister's name is Selene!"


	9. Part 3: A Pony and a Pastry

A Pony and a Portal

Chapter 9: A Pony and a Pastry

Twilight started out of the cave, a bemused smile on her face. It had taken a little longer than expected to explain her situation to the princess, but she found Celestia more than understanding and gratefully helpful. Her friends outside were chatting quietly amongst themselves, no doubt sharing the information they'd collected. They all stopped as Twilight, still grinning, appeared.

"Whatever took so long?" said Rarity. "We'd feared you'd been eaten or somesuch horrible thing!"

Twilight's grin turned flat. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Not that we weren't gonna come in after ya," Applejack corrected quickly.

After a roll of her eyes, Twilight asked, in a tone that suggested she knew more than all of them, "Did anypony find anything?"

"Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were making out!" Pinkie Pie burst.

Eyes popped all around, especially those of the accused. Rainbow Dash gave a fierce glare in the pink pony's direction. "I told you - it was two other ponies with our names, _not _us!"

"You can't blame them," Fluttershy peeped quietly, almost unheard. "I mean, there's no stallions around here. Their options are kinda limited."

"No stallions. Believe me, I've noticed," Rarity sighed.

Twilight blinked. "O...kay. Did anypony find anything relevant?"

Rarity stepped forward. "Perhaps this occurrence is relevant, Twilight. There seem to be a great number of ponies that are similar to many of us. Pinkie and I saw a pony that looked almost like her, and I saw what I believe to be my ancestral aunt, after whom I am named. Could it be possible we're in the past and not an alternate dimension?"

"No!" Twilight burst, a little too quickly. Celestia raised the sun. That wasn't Celestia in the cave. Ergo, this is not the past. Twilight caught herself and started again. "Er, no, it's not possible. Regardless, you didn't talk to any of these ponies, did you?"

"Why, we didn't have a chance! The cafe - Sweetberry's - was simply packed! We didn't even get through the door. That was when I saw my aunt, only she was a unicorn filly."

"Unicorn?" Applejack said. "Th' pony Ah met said there weren't no unicorns in Ponyville. Else we could use their magic ta help us find th' portal."

"That's the thing, you see. My great-aunt was the forerunner for unicorn/earth pony relations. This was all before the three races integrated. She was from Unicornia before it was renamed."

"Wasn't that when unicorns thought _they _made rainbows instead 'a pegasus ponies?" Rainbow Dash added with an uppity smirk. Rarity glowered.

"Actually, unicorns _did_ make rainbows before pegasi. The rainbows that they made were magical and beautiful, unlike those travesties that _you_-"

"Okay, okay," Twilight interrupted, "I think I know what we need to do. There was a...a young dragon in that cave, a benevolent one, and she told me about the object we need." She didn't want to attempt explaining Celestia's appearance. That would only worry everypony, anyway. "That little unicorn is carrying a special wand from Unicornia. That's our key."

"That's very well," said Rarity, a little huffy from being interrupted, "but where is the portal?"

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but only a squeak came out. She'd absolutely forgotten to ask about the portal's location. The other five blinked at her before giving a collective sigh.

"At least we've got a good start," Twilight said sheepishly.

* * *

><p>"There she is," whispered Rarity.<p>

The six quickly ducked around the nearest corner. The little pink unicorn filly was standing in the middle of the way, trying fruitlessly to lick off a smudge of yellow icing from her muzzle. Around her neck in a satchel was a long, twisted wand with a large star at one end. It was rainbow colored, the star icy-blue.

"I'll go talk to her," Twilight whispered back. "The rest of you, just act normal."

En masse, they crept out from the corner. Twilight led the march as they approached the little filly.

"Hello there-" Twilight started. She was interrupted as the filly gave a loud scream and ran a few paces away.

"Get away!" she cried.

"We just wanna talk-"

"No! You just wanna take me home! I don't wanna go back to Unicornia! I don't wanna be a stupid Rainbow Princess!" She bristled visibly, tense, threatening to run off in an instant.

"What? Princess?" Twilight blinked. "No, we're not even from Unicornia. We just need to borrow your wand for a little while. It'll help us get home."

"I'm not going home!" the filly shrieked, attracting the attention of passers-by. She ran off and zipped around a corner.

Rainbow Dash started after her, but Twilight stopped her. "Let's not scare her. If she's running from us, chasing her isn't gonna help."

"What are we going to do?" Rarity sighed.

"Let's start back to Kimono's. It's almost noon, anyway. I don't know about you girls, but I'm starving."

It took a bit of maneuvering to find Kimono's house again, and it was well into the afternoon when they finally found it. They had to walk a short distance through White-Tail Woods and find the river there, planning to follow it to the small pool where they had landed last night. At the river they found a bouncy pink pony waiting for them.

Twilight stopped, looking behind her and discovering only four friends. "Wha - Pinkie? How did you...?"

The pink pony grinned widely, reached behind a tree, and pulled out the rainbow-colored wand in her teeth. Everypony gasped, including Pinkie - if for no other reason than to do what everypony else was doing - and dropped the wand. Twilight caught it with magic, bringing it up for closer inspection.

Twilight's jaw went up and down, repeating, "How...how...how..."

"Well," Pinkie began, reclaiming an innocent look, "after you guys chased Rarity off - not our Rarity but the-other-Rarity-Rarity - I went back to the corner and went through the alley and met her on the other side. She already knew my name somehow; I guess it was that other me that Rarity-our-Rarity and I saw earlier's name, too. I told her that we needed the wand just for a teensy-tiny-itty-bitty minute, but she wouldn't give it up unless I gave her a balloon.

"So I wandered around a while, wondering where the hay I would get a balloon when I saw this party shop, and you _know _I can't resist a party shop! I went in and there was this pony named Razzaroo, and she likes parties, too! She had a balloon but I didn't have any money and she said she'd trade it for a ribbon from Rainbow Dash.

"Well, I knew that our Dashie doesn't wear ribbons, so I thought it might be not-our-Rainbow-Dash-but-the-Rainbow-Dash-that-made-out-with-Fluttershy-Rainbow-Dash. She was easy to find out in the middle of the park showing off her new hat. Well, I didn't think it looked too good, but you don't tell that to somepony you're asking a ribbon from. So I asked for the ribbon and not-our-Dashie-but-the-Rainbow-Dash-that-made-out-with-Fluttershy-Rainbow-Dash said she'd give me a ribbon if I gave her some whipped cream for later. I didn't understand what that meant. I mean, if you're gonna have whipped cream, you should eat it right away, and plus I didn't see any cake or cupcakes or pies, so I don't even know why she wanted it but she gave me this weird look so I thought I should get it anyway.

"So I went back to Sweetberry's 'cause I knew that she'd have some whipped cream. She seemed to know what it was for, 'cause she said 'Ohh, for Rainbow Dash, huh?' and then she winked but I still didn't know what the hay that was about. She needed some cookies 'cause her supply was pretty low 'cause Rarity-not-our-Rarity-but-the-other-Rarity ate them all.

"And then I said, 'How am I gonna get cookies?' This minty green pony passed by, and her name was Minty, which kinda makes sense 'cause she was all minty-colored. She said I could use her oven in exchange for a certain something."

Pinkie grinned widely, giving a pregnant pause. Finally, Rarity rolled her eyes and said it: "What did Minty want?"

"A _sock!_" Pinkie held up her now-bare hoof. "I told you I'd need it! Pinkie Pie Sense!"

"Oh, thank Celestia, it's gone," Rarity sighed.

Twilight motioned at Pinkie's outstretched hoof. "Was that the sock that-"

"Yes."

"So she was wearing-"

"Yes."

Twilight paled. "Thank Celestia, it's gone."

"And then I made cookies and Sweetberry gave me the whipped cream. I gave the whipped cream to not-our-Rainbow-Dash-but-the-Rainbow-Dash-that-made-out-with-Fluttershy-Rainbow-Dash, and she gave it to some yellow pony for some reason and then gave me the ribbon. I gave the ribbon to Razzaroo, and she gave me the balloon, and I gave the balloon to Rarity-not-our-Rarity-but-the-other-Rarity, and she gave me the wand!"

"Wow." Twilight lifted up the wand again and then looked to Pinkie. "Wow! That's a lot of running around. Way to go above the call of duty, Pinkie!"

"It was no big deal," Pinkie shrugged. "I wanted to try out this new cookie recipe anyway."

They continued on to Kimono's to lunch, regroup, and decide where to start looking for the portal. Approaching her house, it was not Kimono who met them but a green pony, a minty-colored pony with four shades of pink in her mane. An angry-looking, mint-green pony.

"You!" she hissed as the six approached. She was looking at Pinkie.

"Uh-oh," Twilight whispered. Pinkie blinked, clueless.

Minty tossed a paper sack at the six. It slid, bumping softly against Twilight's front hoof. She sniffed the bag and brought out one of its contents. A cookie.

"A cookie?" Twilight scrunched up her nose.

Pinkie snatched it in midair with her mouth and crunched it down, making happy grunts of deliciousness. Twilight raised another cookie out, tentatively nibbling it. Though the last batch of baked bads had been mostly Applejack's fault, Twilight knew Pinkie wasn't above cooking atrociously on her own. Twilight was surprised to find the cookie absolutely delicious. She ate the whole thing without thinking.

"These're good," she mumbled, her mouth full. True, they were sort of...fiber-y and not as sweet as Pinkie's regular cookies, but Twilight thought she might like these _better _than the usual.

"Lies!" cried Minty, stomping angrily at the ground. "Sour, filthy, disgusting _poison cookies!_"

Twilight almost spit at the word 'poison,' but as Pinkie was chowing down with her muzzle in the bag, Twilight knew it was a figurative term. Minty continued to rage.

"You'll pay! You'll pay for trying to taint us with these demon cookies! I told them! I told them you'd be at that health-freak Kimono's house! They're coming for you!" She let out a loud, crazy laugh but soon had to stop, panting from her outburst.

There was a low rumbling sound, something far away but growing steadily closer. The ground seemed to tremble under Twilight's hooves. Rainbow Dash took to the air and gave a startled shout. She didn't need to relay to Twilight. The huge, angry mob of fat ponies was approaching at full speed. They snorted, their eyes glowing fiercely, foam flying from their lips.

"Pinkie," Twilight said warningly, "what exactly did you put in those cookies?"

Pinkie chewed her lip - which still contained traces of cookie - and thought. "Well, I tried applesauce instead of sugar 'cause Applejack said it'd be better for ya. Butter, vanilla, cinnamon, baking soda, an egg white, some dark chocolate bits, and _oatmeal_!" She giggled. "Guess oatmeal's not so crazy after all!"

"_OATMEAL_!" Minty seethed.

"Twilight!" called a thankfully familiar voice. They turned to see Kimono urging them, and she joined them in running as they ran to her. "Follow me! I'll get you to Butterfly Island; you should be safe there! They won't all come at once!"

"Everypony's gone crazy!" Twilight cried.

"Yes, I'm sorry! I should've warned you! They're nice enough ponies, but _never touch their sweets_."

"Yeah, thanks for the heads-up!" Twilight grumbled bitterly.

In a moment, they came to a cliff with a very long drop. They skidded to a halt, but Kimono urged them onward.

"No, don't stop! Over the cliff! That's the way to Butterfly Island!"

"Are you crazy?"

Twilight looked in Kimono's smart green eyes and knew she was serious. The cliff loomed before her, and she was certain the bottom was a long way down. If Kimono was lying, it wouldn't matter if they found the portal home or not. Kimono stepped away from the group, planting her hooves firmly in the ground.

"Go. I'll hold them off."

Twilight took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and ran straight off the cliff. It was either that or get trampled by the enraged, obese stampede. She felt the wind whistle past her ears and tucked up her body, bracing for impact. Suddenly, her fall stopped. She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded with blue, violet, teal, and fuchsia butterflies. They lifted her up, and Twilight found herself surrounded by a magic similar to unicorn telekinesis. She was soon at the top of the cliff, and the butterflies dumped her on the ground. They then formed an oval and started spinning. A white light emerged.

"Jump!" Twilight ordered. The ground was shaking under her hooves, and she could hear the voices of angry ponies clamoring about poisoned cookies. Rainbow Dash went first, followed by Applejack. Pinkie Pie bounced in, and Rarity hesitantly leaped through.

"Go!" Twilight smacked a cowering Fluttershy with her flank, sending the squealing pegasus through the portal. Twilight looked back at Kimono, who was bracing for impact.

"Thank you," Twilight said, and she leaped through the butterflies.

* * *

><p>Twilight once again found herself amongst a heap of friends, this time on a warm, sandy beach. She had kept control, somehow, of the rainbow wand, held tightly with her magic and floating a little ways above her head. She also noticed she was surrounded by a pack of pegasi. Every pegasus on the island must have been staring, their looks shocked and surprised and a little scared. The group untangled, and Twilight was about to introduce herself when Kimono suddenly appeared behind her.<p>

"Ruuuuuun!" the purple earth pony screamed at the top of her lungs.

Nopony needed any other direction. Panicked pegasi were plunging precariously everyplace. Twilight and the group started in one direction only to be herded in another. They were a good distance away when the mad mob appeared through the portal. Stampeding in sand wasn't a good tactic, and many of the fat ponies ended up tumbling into each other. The sudden chaos further startled the flighty pegasi, and ponies were suddenly _everywhere_.

Through the madness, Twilight spotted a white pegasus waving urgently at her. The pegasus had strange, curly pink markings all over her body. She cried out as Twilight came closer; "Here, little one! Hurry!"

As soon as Twilight stepped next to the odd pegasus, the wand flew from Twilight's magical grasp. It raised in the air and glowed with a blue light. Light flew from it like a projector on a screen, and a familiar black swirl appeared in the air.

"Thank Celestia!" Twilight burst.

The white pegasus leaned down and said, in a voice reminiscent of Celestia, "Run!"

"Girls!" Twilight cried, "we're going home!"

They all leaped through the curling vortex...


	10. Part 3 and a half: A Pony and Pink Snow

A Pony and a Portal, Part 3.5

A Pony and a Pink Snow

(Quick Author's Note: the joke won't work unless you order milk...erm... I mean, unless you've seen "Twinkle Wish Adventure." The reference video is here: .com/watch?v=83gfJl1miqM&feature=related Just suffer the last six minutes of the entire movie, and that'll be enough to go on. The animation's torturous and the voices are junk. But at least there are boy ponies! -nervous laugh- Also, please don't leave snarky comments on the poster's page – it's not her fault Hasbro made such a crappy movie before discovering the beauty that is Faust. You can comment how crappy G3.5 is on MY page, and both myself and Twilight Sparkle will certainly agree with you...)

Twilight landed with a grunt in a deep pile of snow. Popping her head out, she noticed that five other heads joined her in the snowbank.

"Wh-what the hay?" shivered Rainbow Dash, jarred from the sudden switch from island heat to freezing cold.

Fluttershy let out a relatively quiet shriek, jumping out of the snow like something had bit her. As loudly as she could, she screamed, "Blood! There's blood on the _snow!_"

Everypony followed suit, jumping up from the snowbank with startled cries – all except Twilight, who had taken the more rational approach and looked before she leaped. She sniffed tentatively at the snow, which indeed had an odd pinkish tint to it. Didn't smell like blood. She took a small mouthful of it, eliciting disgusted cries from her friends. Not that she knew what blood tasted like. But she knew what _snow_ tasted like, and this was it – just regular snow.

"Why is it pink?" Twilight murmured aloud.

"T-Twilight?" Dash hovered above the snow, still afraid. "Y-you're not a cannibal, are you?"

"Vampire!" Rarity cried accusingly.

Twilight crossed her brows, her voice echoing her impatience. "It's just snow. I don't know why it's pink, but it's certainly not blood. Geez, guys, calm down. It's not the worst thing we've seen. My main concern is where are we and why is it winter?"

They all looked around, trying to analyze their surroundings. It was sunset, the darkened sky illuminated only by streetlights and pink snowflakes. They had appeared in the middle of a paved street. Houses sat to the left and right; shops with darkened windows lay on another street far from them. Down the other direction, the street led to a large, heart-shaped pavilion, upraised from the ground. A gigantic pine tree stood upon the pavilion, adorned with trinkets and baubles of every color and variety. Even from a distance Twilight realized most of them were pink.

Ponies about Twilight's height, perhaps a little smaller, stood around the tree in a crowd. Twilight waved a hoof to her friends. "Ponies, over there. Maybe we can find help. Just remember – the portal key's probably gonna be a magical object, so keep a lookout."

"We're not home?" chimed Pinkie Pie.

Twilight shook her head. "Unless we've been gone six months. Or unless Bright Eyes is doing weather runs again."

"No," affirmed Dash, "she's been barred from the weather factory since that 'yellow rain' incident."

"She just wanted to match her hair color!" Pinkie said sadly, as if pleading the case for an invisible Bright Eyes.

"Well, this does look an awful lot like Ponyville," Fluttershy cut in. "I mean, the town square, the houses. Even the dragon's mountain is still there."

"That's true." Twilight rubbed her chin. "Still, let's go see those ponies and find out what's going on. This whole trussed-up-tree-and-pink-snow business is a little unsettling."

They slowly approached the town square, mindful of the slippery snow. A yellow pony with mixed purple and pink hair – a mane color which seemed to be quite popular in this place, Twilight noticed – was standing on the stage, speaking indistinctly. She wore a red stocking-cap lined with white fluff. The crowd around her was listening intently, and Twilight noticed a juvenile orange dragon in the midst.

As she got closer, Twilight also noticed something incredibly off about these ponies. They weren't fat, like the Paradise Estates ponies or the Ponyville ponies they'd just left, nor were they oddly-mannered, like Coltonville's bipedal, strange-hoofed ponies. They seemed...they seemed...

Twilight stopped behind a row of ponies. Nopony else seemed to notice their presence, and by that time the yellow pony had left the stage to join the crowd in enjoying the snow. Staring at the pony in front of her, Twilight realized what exactly made them strange.

An enormous, bulbous head sat on a long, scrawny neck, as though the head was a dandelion puff that might, at any moment, topple over. The bodies were small but plump. The legs – _there_ was an atrocity! Thin upper joints graduated down to thick knees and clublike hooves. Looking around, Twilight saw some colts – they didn't look old enough to be called stallions – but they seemed as effeminate as the fillies. Except for their cropped manes and tails, Twilight was barely able to tell the colts and fillies apart.

"Excuse me," Twilight called gingerly to the pony in front of her, a dear little orange filly with the popular purple-and-pink mane. The filly turned, and Twilight had to gulp down a scream.

Large, haunted eyes stared back at her. They occupied most of the filly's face, upstaging the small, almost donkey-like muzzle. The scientific, more rational, and much less prone to fear part of Twilight's mind wondered if there might be room for a brain, with the eyes filling up so much space in the skull.

"Yes?" the capacious-eyed, clubfooted filly squeaked in a voice Twilight was pretty sure only dogs could hear. The other ponies around her turned, and Twilight immediately felt dozens of wide, vapid eyes staring down at her. The air was immediately filled with high-pitched whispers, as though one voice spoke in multitudes. Twilight felt the hair on her back stand straight up.

She garbled something; she was pretty sure it was panicked gibberish. Suddenly, her attention was drawn to a small, yellow, glowing object at the top of the pine tree. Her hoof snapped toward it, her brain taking a respite from the freak show in front of her.

"Dash! Up there!"

"I'm on it!" Dash, who, along with the rest of the group, was on the verge of psychasthenia, was too glad to leave the ground. She whacked the glowing object, a star, off of the tree with her foreleg. Twilight caught it in her mouth and started running.

"What are we-" Pinkie started

"Jes' run!" Applejack hollered, and she galloped off after Twilight, followed shortly by the others.

_I know this is the key – I _know_ it! We've got to get out of here! Those ponies – ugh! Between this and Coltonville's hoof fiasco, I'm so gonna have nightmares for the rest of my life when I get home! But where? Where is that portal?_

She galloped through the empty streets, slipping occasionally on the wet snow, the encouraging sounds of her friends' hooves behind her. After a moment, she saw a park and galloped towards it, clutching the glowing star tightly in her mouth.

_Where is it? Where is it? I'm so sick of this! I wish the stupid thing would just appear already!_

The star in her mouth began to writhe. She dropped it to the ground with a disgusted cry, watching with horror as it wriggled on the ground like a beached starfish. A face grew out of one of its points. Two beady little eyes opened, and it gave a small yawn.

"Did someone say 'wish'?" it said in a cutesy tone.

"Celestia, deliver me from this evil!" Twilight snorted, and raised her hoof to strike the wretched thing. She would have, too, had the portal not opened in front of her.

Twilight dropped to her knees, looking skyward. "Oh, thank Celestia! And Luna! And whoever else wants to be thanked, _thank you!_"

"Twilight-" started somepony behind her, but Twilight was in no mood to debate.

"_Just jump in!_"

Applejack, who had spoken, stared wide-eyed for a moment before disappearing in the void. The others followed, Dash swooping in with a joyous yelp.

Only Twilight remained. She stared at the nasty, twisted star-thing she'd almost stomped, leaned down to it, and whispered, "After I go through this portal, I wish that nopony ever sees another portal to or from this place ever again! Understand?"

The star let out a childish giggle. "Okie-dokie!" it gurgled. The face disappeared, and it seemed to go dormant again.

Twilight still had the urge to crush it, but on her better judgment she jumped through the portal instead. The black mass instantly closed up, and nothing but pink snow fell in its place.

The crowd, momentarily distracted by the strange interruption, began to disperse. The yellow pony – Mayor Cheerleader Hair – decided to check around for Twinkle Wish. That little star needed to be put back in her box, after all, until next year when everyone would make their selfish little wishes again. Next time, the Mayor would wish for better hairspray, or maybe some extra-extra-large curlers. Or, like every year, she'd wish for a handsome stallion. _That_ was a wish that never came true! Then she'd have to lie and cover up, saying corny things like "Yeah, I wished for snow, too" or "Aw, we all wished for friendship this year!"

As the Mayor started for the park, she heard the cries of some fillies behind her. Turning, she followed their gaze to the top of Dragon Mountain, a dark and forbidden spire near town. A white light shot like a star from its peak, and gray clouds began to churl down from the mountain. The light became brighter, and many ponies began to scream and run in fear. Thunder sounded in the distance, and even the Mayor cowered.

The Princess's return, like a storm, would begin in chaos and fury...

(Author's note: ...and end in rainbows! No Tyrants here!)


	11. A Pony, Home at Last

A Pony, Home at Last

Twilight didn't want to open her eyes. She didn't want to look and see an unfamiliar world again. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare, open her eyes and see her bedroom and her library and her beloved books. She felt grass beneath her hooves. She smelled clovers and daisies, the musty moss on an old tree's roots. She wanted to believe she was home.

She waited for the others to respond. She heard the flapping wings of Rainbow Dash, the quiet breaths of Fluttershy. Rarity whimpered – not a good sign! Applejack pressed her flank against Twilight; she could tell it was Applejack from the muscle. Pinkie Pie – who was actually the first brave enough to open her eyes – let out a loud gasp.

"_We're home!_" she shrieked, three octaves higher than musically possible.

Unbelieving, Twilight slowly opened her eyes. Far off in the distance, she saw a tree. A giant, familiar, wonderful tree. A blue streak swiped past her, and Rainbow Dash zoomed up into the sky, looping around and yelling with joy. Rarity squealed, hopping happily in place. Pinkie copied her, bouncing everywhere. Applejack let out a wild whoop, and Fluttershy just smiled, letting all the warm, fuzzy feelings circle around inside of her. Twilight let out a relieved sigh, a sigh she once thought she'd never let out again.

Watching Pinkie bounce around, something caught Twilight's eye. Pinkie was stopped in mid-bounce, illuminated by a purple glow. The fang necklace, the crazy-stupid bit of bone that started all this mess, glowed purple, too, as it was ripped off of Pinkie's neck and tossed rather angrily into the forest. Pinkie giggled as Twilight set her down, too giddy to even realize she'd been magicked.

"Over here!" cried a high-pitched voice above them. They looked up to see a purple pegasus with pink hair – a pony nopony else recognized. Apparently, she wasn't calling out to them, because she flew off towards the town as fast as she could go.

Moments later, a crowd appeared, running towards them at top speed. Familiar ponies came into view – Bright Eyes and Lyra and Carrot Top and dozens of others. Tears sprang to Twilight's eyes as she saw Spike leading the pack. She ran towards him, and he caught her in a hug, clinging to her neck as tightly as his little claws could cling.

"Twilight!" he sniffled. "I was so worried about you! I didn't know where you were and I was so scared and...and..."

The scholar-pony nuzzled her assistant lovingly. "It's okay, Spike, it's okay. I missed you, too, but all that matters is I'm back now."

Pinkie Pie was hugged by the Cakes, and neither could stop their crying. Sweetie Belle tackled her big sister, and Apple Bloom did the same. Rainbow Dash found herself, rather unwittingly, tackled and hugged by Scootaloo but allowed it...this time. A host of animals came forward and surrounded Fluttershy with hugs – all except Angel Bunny, who scolded her with a barrage of chitters before leaping onto her head and hugging the life out of her ear.

The crowd suddenly parted, ponies bowing low as the Princess of Equestria made her way through. She stopped in front of Twilight, and Twilight could feel the scowl of the princess on her, even though her head was lowered in courtesy.

"Twilight Sparkle," the princess started in a commanding tone, and the accused felt a knot develop in the pit of her stomach, "where have you been for the past three days?"

Twilight raised her head. "I-it's a long story, Princess..."

"Do you have any idea what you've done?"

The scholar gulped. She'd changed the future. Or the past. That's what she'd done. Somehow, some way, talking to somepony, she'd gone and messed things up. Or – or something came back with her, something terrible and devastating. Anything that could've gone wrong had, and now the princess was furious.

The princess leaned down, whispering softly in Twilight's ear, "You made me worry."

Twilight tilted her head up, confused, spots of red on her cheeks. Celestia suddenly grabbed her favorite student in a tight hug, and Twilight was too stunned to even react. When Celestia released, the crowd gave nervous chuckles, and the smile on the princess's own face allowed Twilight to relax.

"However, I do believe something needs to be done about your little transgression, Twilight," Celestia started again in an official tone. Her smile disappeared, making Twilight's nerves rise. "I think your friend – Pinkie, was it? - knows exactly what to do."

Everypony, Twilight especially, stared at Pinkie, confused. The pink pony herself seemed perplexed, and she scrunched up her nose in thought before bursting out the one and only answer.

"WELCOME HOME PARTY!"

Pinkie dashed off, the Cakes in hot pursuit, yelling about how she wasn't supposed to use the oven without supervision...

* * *

><p>Not long after the six lost ponies had found their way back, a figure crept through the treeline of the Everfree Forest. It stopped in a small clearing not far from where the ponies had returned. It leaned down, sniffing out the fang necklace from a clump of weeds and picking it up. The figure then tossed the necklace in the air, catching it masterfully around her muzzle and sliding it down her neck. Satisfied, she trotted off, eager to get home before the sun set. Were anypony around, they would have heard her words:<p>

"Ah, Morte's Tooth! Where have you been? But I wonder: what other worlds have you seen?"

* * *

><p>It didn't take Pinkie long to throw together a party. If nothing else, she was certainly resourceful. Everypony agreed, of course, that Pinkie's new cookie recipe was fantastic, even if it was uncharacteristically healthy.<p>

"Looks like everything's right with the world once again!" Rarity piped, passing Twilight a fresh cup of punch.

Twilight forced a smile, looking instead in the direction of Princess Celestia. All of their family and friends were so relieved to see the return of the six that they were surprisingly relaxed in the princess's presence. Right now, Celestia was having a lively conversation with Cheerilee about some pop singer Twilight had never heard of. It was odd to see them treat the princess just like any other pony, and Twilight's thoughts rounded back to the conversation she'd had with the Other Celestia.

_That was another dimension. A dream, or at least something close to it. This is reality, and here in reality, Princess Celestia raises the sun every morning. No other answer will suffice._

Doubt is a terrible monster that grows every time one wants to starve it. It also makes everything else tasteless, or at least it did to Twilight. Cupcakes and cookies turned to sour mush. The music seemed less lively, the decorations drab. Even the dancing seemed...pointless. As afternoon turned into evening and the party went into full-swing, Twilight steeled her reserve. She had to know the answer. She couldn't rest until she did.

"Princess?" she asked, waiting patiently until the princess finished a conversation with a confident-looking brown stallion with an hourglass Mark – a friend of Rarity's, probably, "can I speak with you? In private?"

"Certainly!" Celestia was enjoying herself, almost giddy with joy. Or punch. It was hard to say, since this was a Pinkie Pie Party. Regardless, they both went into a quieter room, one of Sugarcube Corner's large pantries.

"Your friend knows how to throw quite a party!" Celestia said, pulling a bit of streamer from her hair.

"Yeah," muttered Twilight, suddenly finding it difficult to speak. Concerned, Celestia sat down next to her favorite student.

"Twilight? Did something bad happen when you went missing?" She paused for an answer, but Twilight fell silent. "I was going to wait until later to ask you for the details, considering you've just returned, but I think you should tell me everything now."

Twilight told her the story, leaving out no detail save one: what the Other Princess had told her about raising the sun and moon. She choked up a bit at the story of the twins' hooves and again at the story of meeting the princess herself in the cave. Celestia listened patiently, betraying nothing with a stoic expression.

_As if she'd heard it before,_ Twilight thought. _As if she was there._

"Quite a trial," Celestia said after Twilight had finished. "It's a good thing you did your research on portals. And it seems you've gained enough knowledge to write an entire book on it."

"I probably could, by now." Again, Twilight was silent, the monster named Doubt gnawing at her. To know would be to accept the truth. She suddenly didn't want to ask. But here they were, in the half-lit pantry amongst the sugar and flour, about to uncover a potentially devastating secret that would possibly be the undoing of Equestria itself. Twilight looked at her mentor's gentle smile and somehow found the courage to ask.

"Princess?" Twilight said hesitantly, "do you...do you really raise the sun every morning?"

The princess looked surprised at the question but once again relaxed into a smile. "Well, Twilight, you've known me for a while, now. You've attended the ceremonies. You've also done plenty of research on stars and planets. I feel I must answer your question with one of my own: what do you think?"

Twilight looked at the floor. That wasn't the answer she was hoping to find. Now it was hard to tell whether the princess was being rhetorical, sarcastic, or serious. Twilight always had problems understanding others when they asked questions like that. Looking at her princess, she thought again of the Summer Sun Festival she'd attended as a filly. The festival had been her inspiration to learn magic, to join the Princess at the illustrious school. To claim that her own _raison d'etre_ was a lie...was Twilight even capable of admitting that?

"I...I want to believe that you do," Twilight finally muttered.

Celestia nuzzled her student with matronly affection. "Thank you, Twilight. Sometimes a belief is more powerful than a truth. Sometimes they are one and the same." She stood slowly, stretching out and hiding a yawn. "And now you must forgive me, Twilight, as I must leave your celebration a little early. There is something imperative I've been neglecting, and I've only just remembered to do it. You will excuse me?"

"Of course, Princess." Twilight stood and gave a short bow. She smiled, feeling the monster of Doubt begin to crumble and dissolve. Of course Celestia raised the sun. How silly of her to think otherwise.

After Celestia was gone, Twilight excused herself as well. The sun was still low in the sky, not quite set, but it had been a long series of days. Twilight was more than exhausted. Spike saw her back to the library, where she fell asleep before her head hit the pillow. It was the most comfortable, relaxing sleep she'd ever had.

That night, she dreamed. Not of strange-hooved fillies or monstrous, bug-eyed ponies but of writing an award-winning dissertation on portals and other dimensions. The enormous plaque she'd won took up a whole wall.

* * *

><p>"Wake up, sister! Wake up!" Celestia jumped around Luna's bed like an excited puppy. Luna sleepily sat up, groaning and yawning.<p>

"Celly," she whined, "it's too early."

"Come on! Up, sleepyhead!" Celestia nipped her little sister by the wing, dragging her out of bed. They traveled together, one half-asleep, one as excited as a sparrow, down the marble hallways of the castle. At length they reached the western balcony, and Celestia pushed her unwilling sister towards the railing.

Annoyed, Luna drowsily waved her sister away. As soon as the scene in front of her became clear, her eyes popped open. She propped her hooves up on the balcony's railing to get a better look, and soon tears started to run down her cheeks.

"Oh, Celly," she gasped quietly.

"What do you think?" Celesta stepped up to her sister, putting a hoof around her in a hug. "It's not as good as yours – haven't practiced in years. Yours were always way better, anyway."

"It's beautiful," cried Luna, somewhere between sobbing and laughing.

The sunset only lasted a few minutes, but the two sisters relished every second. They reminisced through all of the good memories and none of the bad, talking, laughing, crying until the setting sun faded into twilight.

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

"So it belonged to you," Twilight said, holding out her cup for refilling.

The zebra poured tea and set the pot down. "Yes, it is quite a mischievous artifact. I am quite glad to have it back. I am sorry for all the trouble it caused. To find it missing gave me pause."

"What is it, exactly? What's it for?"

"To travel to dimensions and away to far-off lands. It was procured from its retention by an immortal's curious hands. It originally came from a magical skull from a hideous place called "Baator." The talking skull offered the tooth to me if I could help with a cure. His friend had lost and never regained his precious memory. I tried all of the tricks that I know, but I failed at a remedy. In his kindness the skull still gave me the tooth and told me of its use: all the dimensions, where they are, and, of portals, how to produce. You are now aware, Twilight dear, that portals need a key. This tooth is but one, and, as you now know, there are many."

"Wow, a talking skull? That sounds kinda...creepy."

"He was a nice skull," Zecora said, as if that made things okay. The zebra sat down, somewhat ignoring the confused look Twilight was giving her, and sipped her tea. After a while, she spoke again: "Twilight, there is something I would ask."

"Please, go ahead." Twilight took a drink, wondering if more weird undead bones stories were in store.

"The places that you went, you were not supposed to go. Time travel? Other realities? Where do they flow? A trial you have had, yes, that is a fact, but would you, if you could, turn the mighty clock back? Would you do the whole thing all over again? Knowing what you know now? Knowing what you knew then?"

Twilight stared into her tea, thinking of the worlds she'd traveled. A human, so bent on ruling her own slice of paradise that she would hurt those that she had once loved? The complacency of a stagnant pony-society that didn't know the light and beauty of Celestia and her sun? A world full of fat, stupid ponies that would turn like jackals on anypony that ate a vegetable? And those wide-eyed monstrosities!

On the other hoof, her friends. Applejack's dutiful loyalty. Rainbow Dash's fierce determination. Fluttershy's quiet courage. Rarity's forward-thinking caution. Pinkie Pie's incomprehensible efficiency. The realization that she and her friends were able to adapt and rise above the hopelessness of their situations. Every trouble ahead would pale in comparison to the portals. Dragons? Starbears? Nothing compared to being lost and far from home in another dimension with little to no clue how to get back.

Yet they had returned and safely. Twilight could always depend on her friends. She believed it more than ever. She smiled at Zecora, who was curiously awaiting her answer.

"Wouldn't you?"


End file.
